SONG 


ARTHUR  E.  EN 
VOU  • 


THE  STARS  IN  SONG 
AND   LEGEND 


BY 


JERMAIN    G.   PORTER,  PH.D. 

DIRECTOR  OF  THE  CINCINNATI  OBSERVATORY  AND  PROFESSOR  OF 
ASTRONOMY  IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CINCINNATI 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS  FROM  THE  DRAWINGS   OF 

ALBRECHT   DURER 


BOSTON,  U.S.A.,  AXD  LONDON 
GINN   &   COMPANY,   PUBLISHERS 
C&e  8tl)cmrttm 
1901 


ENTERED  AT  STATIONERS'  HALL 


COPYRIGHT,  1901 
BY  JEKMAIN  G.  PORTER 

ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


I  HAVE  attempted  in  this  little  volume  to  present  the 
legendary  lore  of  the  heavens  in  such  a  way  as  to  attract  the 
unprofessional  reader.  By  numerous  poetical  quotations  I 
have  tried  also  to  show  the  intimate  connection  of  the  stars 
with  the  best  arid  highest  in  literature.  The  book  embodies 
to  a  considerable  extent  the  material  that  I  have  collected  on 
this  subject  in  the  course  of  many  years'  lecturing  to  col- 
lege classes,  though  I  have  made  free  use  also  of  that  ency- 
clopedic work  on  Star  Names  and  their  Meanings,  by  R.  H. 
Allen,  published  only  a  year  or  two  ago.  So  exhaustive  is 
the  treatment  of  the  constellations  in  Mr.  Allen's  book,  that 
there  might  seem  small  excuse  for  again  presenting  the  sub- 
ject ;  but  the  very  completeness  of  that  volume  will  render 
it  less  useful  to  many  who  might  be  interested  in  a  briefer 
and  more  popular  account  of  the  star  legends. 

I  wish  also  here  to  record  my  indebtedness  to  Sir  Norman 
Lockyer's  Dawn  of  Astronomy  for  much  interesting  informa- 
tion concerning  sun  worship  among  the  ancients.  I  have 
consulted,  besides,  many  of  the  older  standard  works  on 
mythology  and  on  the  constellations. 


1781113 


vi  PREFACE 

Most  of  the  quotations  are  taken  directly  from  the  originals, 
though  in  a  few  cases  I  have  copied  these  from  Smyth's  Cycle 
of  Celestial  Objects  or  from  Mr.  Allen's  work. 

The  Latin  forms  of  classic  names  have  in  general  been 
adopted,  and  care  has  been  taken  to  avoid  as  far  as  possible 
the  introduction  of  Greek  words  or  technical  terms  which 
would  puzzle  the  unscientific  reader. 

JERMAIN   G.   PORTER. 
JUNE,  1901. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION      .         .         .         .         .                  .         .         .         .  ix 

THE  DAY-STAR  —  SUN  MYTHS  AND  SUN  WORSHIP        .         .  1 

LUNAR  FABLES  AND  FANCIES     .......  13 

THE  STARRY  HEAVENS  ........  22 

ARIES,  THE  RAM          .........  27 

TAURUS,  THE  BULL          ........  30 

GEMINI,  THE  TWINS     .........  39 

CANCER,  THE  CRAB          ........  43 

LEO,  THE  LION    ..........  45 

VIRGO,  THE  VIRGIN          ........  47 

LIBRA,  THE  SCALES      .........  50 

SCORPIO,  THE  SCORPION           .......  52 

SAGITTARIUS,  THE  ARCHER          .......  54 

CAPRICORNUS,  THE  GOAT         .......  55 

AQUARIUS,  THE  WATER-BEARER          .         .         .         .         .         .57 

PISCES,  THE  FISHES         .......  58 

URSA  MAJOR,  THE  GREAT  BEAR         ......  61 

I'i:- A  MINOR,  THE  LITTLE  BEAR    .         .         .         .         .         .  67 

CEPHEUS  AND  CASSIOPEIA            .......  72 

PERSEUS  AND  ANDROMEDA       .......  74 

AURIGA,  THE  CHARIOTEER           .......  77 

COMA    BERENICES  (BERENICE'S  HAIR)     .....  80 

BOOTES,  THE  HERDSMAN     ........  82 


viii  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

CORONA  BOREALIS,  THE  NORTHERN  CROWN-  ...          85 

HERCULES    ...........     88 

OPHIUCHUS,  THE  SERPENT-BEARER          .....          90 

LYRA,  THE  LYRE;  DELPHINUS,  THE  DOLPHIN;  A^MI.A.  THE 

EAGLE ."92 

CYGNUS,  THE  SWAN 96 

PEGASUS,  THE  WINGED  HORSE 99 

ORION 101 

CANIS  MAJOR  AND  CANIS  MINOR,  THE  GREAT  AND  LITTI.K 

DOGS 107 

ARGO  NAVIS,  THE  SHIP  ARGO        .         .        .         .         .         .111 

CRUX,  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS      .         .         .         .         .         .         .110 

THE  GALAXY,  OR  MILKY  WAY  .  .  .  .  .  .119 

INDEX  .  .  125 


ASTRONOMY  as  usually  taught  is  purely  a  nature  study. 
Viewed  solely  in  that  light,  none  certainly  will  dispute  its 
educational  value.  To  a  far  greater  extent  than  any  other 
science  does  it  enlarge  the  mind  and  give  a  true  conception 
of  the  relation  of  man  to  his  physical  environment.  A  liberal 
education  implies  some  general  knowledge,  at  least,  of  the 
wonderful  revelations  of  modern  astronomy. 

But  astronomy  possesses  an  interest  for  the  student  also 
from  other  points  of  view.  Its  great  antiquity,  for  instance, 
renders  it  worthy  of  attention  historically.  Unlike  other 
branches  of  science,  which,  for  the  most  part,  are  but  of  yes- 
terday, the  science  of  the  stars  may  be  traced  backward  till 
its  beginnings  are  lost  in  the  mythological  and  the  fabulous. 
It  is  not,  however,  the  formal  history  of  astronomy  that  I  now 
refer  to,  so  much  as  the  general  relation  of  the  progress  of 
astronomical  ideas  with  the  growth  of  civilization.  It  will, 
in  fact,  be  found  that  the  knowledge  of  practical  astronomy 
possessed  by  a  people  forms  a  very  good  criterion  of  their 
advancement  in  those  arts  which  minister  to  physical  well- 
being.  Among  savage  tribes  the  heavenly  bodies  may  be 


x  INTRODUCTION 

regarded  with  awe,  and  even  worshiped ;  but  their  motions 
and  their  relations  to  the  form  of  the  earth  are  not  understood, 
and  hence  cannot  be  employed  for  the  accurate  reckoning  of 
time,  for  navigation  and  surveying,  with  all  the  attendant 
advantages.  Throughout  historic  times  the  connection  has 
always  been  very  close  between  the  intellectual  activity 
which  has  sought  to  wrest  the  secrets  of  nature  from  the 
stars,  and  the  industrial  activity  which  has  manifested  itself 
in  exploration  and  extended  commerce. 

To  take  one  illustration,  why  was  the  discovery  of  the 
western  continent  so  long  delayed?  We  admire  the  splen- 
did civilizations  of  classic  times.  Why  was  it  that  clouds 
and  darkness  then  enveloped  four-fifths  of  the  earth's  sur- 
face ?  Why  could  not  the  art  which  built  the  pyramids,  or 
the  skill  that  clothed  the  hills  and  vales  of  Greece  with 
beauty,  or  the  administrative  power  that  made  Rome  the 
mistress  of  the  nations,  have  pierced  also  the  secrets  of 
the  ocean  and  brought  to  light  the  continents  and  islands 
embosomed  in  its  heaving  billows  ?  Why  was  Atlantis  but 
a  myth,  and  the  outlying  waters  so  full  of  terrors  to  the 
imagination  of  the  ancient  mariners  that  they  only  groped 
along  the  shore?  We  readily  find  the  explanation  in  the 
crude  notions  regarding  the  figure  of  the  earth  which  still 
enchained  the  popular  mind. 

The  ideas  of  those  philosophers  of  the  Augustan  age,  who 
had  already  perceived  the  truth  on  this  subject,  failed  to  gain 


INTRODUCTION  xi 

general  acceptance  and  were  soon  lost  amid  the  darkness  of 
scholasticism.  Only  with  the  revival  of  learning  and  the 
renewed  study  of  the  Greek  classics  did  they  again  appear 
and  begin  to  influence  the  thought  of  the  age.  Even  in  the 
time  of  Columbus  the  figment  of  a  flat  earth  surrounded  by 
an  ocean  stream  was  still  so  prevalent  that,  as  we  know,  it 
was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  he  obtained  the  means  to 
fit  out  his  vessels  or  the  crews  to  man  them.  But  for  his 
thorough  belief  in  the  most  advanced  astronomical  teaching 
of  his  day,  we  may  be  sure  he  would  never  have  ventured 
upon  his  momentous  voyage. 

Again,  astronomy  possesses  an  interest  from  what  we  may 
call  the  aesthetic  point  of  view ;  and  this  is  the  phase  of  the 
subject  which  it  is  desired  particularly  to  present  in  this  book, 
though  it  is  also  true  that  the  mythology  of  the  heavens 
throws  much  light  on  the  historical  development  of  the  sci- 
ence. In  all  ages  the  celestial  bodies  have  been  objects  of 
admiration,  yet  no  doubt  this  was  so  more  universally  in  the 
infancy  of  the  race  than  in  modern  times.  The  progress  of 
civilization  tends  to  wean  us  away  from  nature.  We  do 
indeed  make  use  of  her  forces  and  her  laws,  but  the  knowl- 
edge and  skill  which  such  use  implies  and  necessitates  are 
confined  mostly  to  scientists  and  inventors ;  and  the  scien- 
tific spirit  which  insists  on  uncovering  all  the  secret  springs 
of  the  cosmos  reacts  also  on  the  popular  mind  and  leads  to 
unromantic  views  of  nature.  The  rising  and  setting  of  the 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

sun,  the  waxing  and  waning  of  the  moon,  the  solemn  man  h 
of  the  glittering  star  host  across  the  firmament,  are  taken  as 
matters  of  course  and  excite  no  wonder  and  inspire  no  awe. 

Very  different  was  it  in  the  early  days,  when  nature  was 
not  regarded  as  one  vast  machine  wherein  each  part  and  each 
movement  were  articulated  with  all  the  rest,  but  rather  as  a 
series  of  phenomena  with  special  relations  and  individual 
significance.  In  the  case  of  the  heavenly  bodies  this  view 
would  naturally  lead  to  their  deification  and  worship.  More 
especially  would  this  be  true  because  of  the  seemingly  inti- 
mate connection  not  simply  of  the  sun,  but  of  the  stars  as 
well,  with  the  changes  of  the  seasons  and  the  varying  round 
of  human  activity  associated  therewith.  That  this  worship 
of  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  was  well-nigh  universal,  we  have 
abundant  evidence.  Even  the  Israelites  had  to  be  cautioned 
many  times  against  the  practice,  as  in  Deuteronomy  iv.  15-19: 
"  Take  ye  therefore  good  heed  unto  yourselves  .  .  .  lest  thou 
lift  up  thine  eyes  unto  heaven,  and  when  thou  seest  the  sun, 
moon  and  stars,  even  all  the  host  of  heaven,  shouldest  be 
driven  to  worship  them,  which  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  divided 
unto  all  nations  under  the  whole  heaven." 

Although  such  worship  was  frequently  accompanied  by 
cruel  and  shameful  rites,  nevertheless  the  beauty  and  dignity 
of  the  objects,  together  with  their  exalted  position  and  mys- 
terious yet  beneficent  influence,  certainly  redeemed  this  spe- 
cies of  idolatry  from  the  grossness  and  degrading  character  of 


INTRODUCTION  xiii 

some  other  forms, — as,  for  instance,  the  worship  of  animals 
and  reptiles. 

In  this  deification  of  the  celestial  bodies  many  of  the 
legends  relating  to  them  had  their  origin.  These  old  stories, 
wild  and  fanciful  as  they  are,  reveal  to  us  the  thoughts  and 
feelings  with  which  primitive  man  gazed  into  the  sky,  and 
the  relations  and  influences  which  he  there  traced.  While 
they  contain  much  that  is  crude  and  even  ridiculous,  we  may 
discover  also  many  beautiful  ideas  and  ennobling  conceptions. 
It  is  certainly  worth  while  to  study  these  legends,  both  because 
of  their  intrinsic  interest,  and  for  the  view  they  give  us  of  the 
weak,  but  none  the  less  honest  and  earnest  efforts,  which  our 
remote  ancestors  made  to  solve  that  complex,  momentous 
problem,  the  relation  of  heaven  to  earth. 

Not  all  the  star  legends,  however,  come  to  us  from  antiquity. 
We  meet  them  in  the  folklore  of  more  recent  periods.  In  the 
far  north  and  in  the  sunny  south,  among  the  wild  aborigines 
of  the  continents  and  islands  of  the  sea,  as  well  as  the  peas- 
antry of  the  more  civilized  nations,  these  stories  concerning 
the  sky  and  its  inhabitants  are  current.  Then,  too,  the  litera- 
ture of  modern  times  abounds  in  references  to  the  constella- 
tions and  the  myths  associated  with  them.  It  is  impossible 
to  read  understandingly  a  poet  like  Tennyson,  with  his  con- 
stant allusions  to  classic  mythology,  or  Longfellow,  whose 
verse  mirrors  in  numberless  instances  the  beauties  of  the 
starry  firmament,  without  some  knowledge  not  simply  of 


xiv  INTRODUCTION 

astronomy  as  a  science,  but  of  the  legendary  lore  connected 
with  it. 

It  is  in  the  hope  of  leading  the  reader  to  a  fuller  apprecia- 
tion of  the  poetry  of  the  sky,  as  well  as  to  a  greater  interest 
in  the  stars  themselves,  that  this  little  book  has  been  written. 
Emerson  in  his  essay  on  Nature  says :  "  If  the  stars  should 
appear  one  night  in  a  thousand  years,  how  would  men  believe 
and  adore,  and  preserve  for  many  generations  the  remem- 
brance of  the  city  of  God  which  had  been  shown  !  But 
every  night  come  out  these  envoys  of  beauty,  and  light  the 
universe  with  their  admonishing  smile."  And,  alas  !  too 
often  we  pay  them  scant  heed.  Even  though  our  minds  be 
unscientific,  and  the  dry  facts  of  astronomy  do  not  appeal  to 
us,  let  us  at  least  familiarize  ourselves  with  the  face  of  the 
sky ;  let  us  make  friends  with  those  mysterious  giant  figures 
that  people  its  depths,  so  that  whenever  we  lift  our  eyes  and 
behold  them  shining  down  from  their  serene  heights  of  ether, 
we  shall  recall  the  wonderful  legends  told  of  them  in  the 
long-ago,  and  the  beautiful  fancies  which  they  have  inspired 
in  the  poetic  soul  of  every  age. 


When  I  survey  the  bright 

Celestial  sphere, 

So  rich  with  jewels  hung,  that  night 
Doth  like  an  Ethiop  bride  appear ; 
My  soul  her  wings  doth  spread, 

And  heavenward  flies, 
The  Almighty's  mysteries  to  read 
In  the  large  volumes  of  the  skies. 

WILLIAM  HABIXGTOX,   1005-45. 


xvi 


THE   STARS   IN   SONG   AND 
LEGEND 


THE   DAY-STAR  —  SUN   MYTHS   AND 
SUN  WORSHIP 

One  sun  by  day,  by  night  ten  thousand  shine, 

And  light  us  deep  into  the  Deity ; 

How  boundless  in  magnificence  and  might ! 

YOUNG  —  Night  Thoughts. 

THEKE  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  sun  was  the  first 
of  all  the  celestial  bodies  to  be  observed  and  studied. 
The  mysterious  thoughts  and  unanswerable  question- 
ings which  its  rising  must  have  excited  in  the  inind 
of  the  primitive  philosopher  are  well  voiced  in  the 
poems  of  Ossian : 

Whence  are  thy  beams,  0  Sun,  thy  everlasting  light? 

Thou  comest  forth  in  thy  awful  beauty ;  the  stars  hide  them- 
selves in  the  sky ;  the  moon,  cold  and  pale,  sinks  in 
the  western  wave ;  but  thou  thyself  movest  alone. 


2  THE  STARS   IN  SONG  AND  LEGEND 

It  is  impossible  for  us,  with  our  accurate  knowledge 
of  the  natural  causes  that  produce  the  phenomenon  of 
day  and  night,  to  appreciate  the  feelings  of  our  remote 
ancestors  as  the  great  orb  of  day  sank  below  the  hori- 
zon. How  almost  death-like  must  have  seemed  the 
darkness  that  settled  over  the  landscape,  and  how 
tremendously  important  the  coming  of  the  dawn  and 
the  return  of  day !  That  divine  honors  should  be 
paid  to  the  great  source  and  dispenser  of  light  and 
life  was  inevitable. 

Sun  Worship  in  India. — Evidences  of  this  sun  worship 
can  be  found  in  nearly  every  nation  of  antiquity.  The 
Vedas  contain  hymns  to  the  sky,  to  the  dawn,  and  to 
the  sun,  forming  a  kind  of  ritual,  which  was  chanted 
by  the  priests  at  sunset  and  sunrise.  The  burden  of 
these  hymns  is  the  universal  conflict  between  good  and 
evil  as  typified  by  the  struggle  between  light  and  dark- 
ness. "  Will  the  dawn  return  ?  Will  the  sun  again 
rise?  Will  the  powers  of  darkness  be  conquered  by 
the  god  of  light?" 

Professor  Max  Muller  thus  characterizes  this  primitive 
literature :  "  I  look  upon  the  sunrise  and  sunset,  on 
the  daily  return  of  day  and  night,  on  the  battle 
between  light  and  darkness,  on  the  whole^  solar  drama 


SUN  MYTHS  AND  SUN  WORSHIP  3 

in  all  its  details  that  is  enacted  every  day,  every 
month,  every  year,  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  as  the 
principal  subject." 

Egyptian  Ideas  of  the  Sun-God;  the  Myth  of  Horus. — 
While  the  Vedas  carry  us  back  more  than  three 
thousand  years  and  give  us  some  insight  into  the  forms 
of  worship  prevailing  among  the  ancestors  of  our  own 
Aryan  race,  in  the  Nile  country  we  can  trace  the 
evidences  of  a  similar  cult  to  a  period  even  more 
remote.  By  the  Egyptians  the  sun  was  worshiped, 
not  simply  as  the  general  source  of  light ;  they  dis- 
tinguished various  forms  of  the  sun-god,  depending 
upon  the  positions  occupied  in  its  daily  course.  The 
rising  sun  was  Horus,  the  child-god  ;  Amen  Ra,  the 
sun  in  his  noontide  strength ;  and  Osiris,  the  setting 
sun,  dying  and  passing  into  the  under-world  of  dark- 
ness. The  deity  that  presided  over  this  under-world 
was  Typhon,  and  we  find  him  symbolized  by  the  cir- 
cumpolar  constellations.  These  constellations  never 
set,  and  are  consequently  always  visible  when  the  sun 
is  absent  from  the  sky.  To  the  untutored  mind  there 
came  naturally,  therefore,  to  be  an  antithesis  between 
the  two.  The  relations,  as  they  existed  in  the  thoughts 
of  those  primitive  peoples,  between  the  rising  and 


4  THE  STARS  IN  SONG  AND  LEGEND 

setting  sun  and  the  powers  of  darkness  that  ruled  the 
night  were  beautifully  set  forth  in  the  Myth  of 
Horus. 

This  legend,  depicted  on  the  temple  walls,  is  exceed- 
ingly ancient,  going  back  perhaps  as  early  as  5000  B.C. 
It  represents  Horus,  the  rising  sun,  battling  with  and 
slaying  Typhon,  the  god  of  darkness,  in  the  form  of 
a  crocodile  or  hippopotamus,  to  revenge  the  death  of 
his  father  Osiris,  the  setting  sun.  The  astronomical 
significance  of  the  myth  is  very  plain.  The  rising  sun 
blots  out  or  destroys  the  circumpolar  constellations, 
symbolized  by  the  crocodile  or  hippopotamus ;  these  in 
their  turn  being  responsible  for  the  disappearance  and 
death  of  the  setting  sun. 

Orientation  of  Egyptian  Temples.  —  It  is  a  well-known 
fact  that  the  pyramids  stand  square  with  the  points  of 
the  compass,  and  therefore  face  sunrise  at  the  time  of 
the  equinox.  But  the  pyramids  do  not  represent  by 
any  means  the  oldest  civilization  of  Egypt.  Among 
the  temple  remains  in  Upper  Egypt  are  some  whose 
ruins  must  have  been  already  hoary  with  the  dust  of 
centuries  when  the  pyramid  builders  began  their  work. 
When  these  ruins  were  first  explored  and  mapped, 
their  arrangement  greatly  puzzled  archaeologists  ;  they 


SUN   MYTHS   AND   SUN   WORSHIP 


seemed  to  have  been  set  down  haphazard,  facing  indis- 
criminately in  all  directions.  Later  and  more  careful 
study  has  revealed  the  inter- 
esting fact  that  these  temples 
were  erected  for  the  purpose  of 
observing  the  rising  or  setting 
of  different  heavenly  bodies. 
Indeed,  in  some  respects  they 
resembled  gigantic  telescopes. 
Their  ground  plan  was  such, 
with  chamber  and  ante-cham- 
ber connected  by  ever-narrow- 
ing apertures,  that  a  beam  of 
light  entering  through  the 
outer  pylon  would  pass  along 
the  whole  length  of  the  tem- 
ple, until  finally  it  penetrated 
to  the  inmost  sanctuary  and 
there  formed  an  image  of 
the  luminous  object  upon  the 
wall. 

Some  of  these   structures  were   used  for 
the    sun,    others   for   the    stars.      It   was   found   that 
many  of  the  solar  temples  faced  the  sunrise  or  sunset 


GROUND  PLAN  OF  TEMPLE  AT 
THEBES  (LEPSIUS) 

A.  Pylon 

B.  Inner  sanctuary 


observing 


6  THE   STARS   IN   SONG   AND   LEGEND 

at  the  time  of  the  summer  solstice.  The  motive  that 
suggested  this  arrangement  we  can  readily  under- 
stand. The  rising  of  the  Nile  was  to  the  Egyptians 
the  most  important  event  of  the  year,  and  this  rise 
during  all  historic .  time  has  begun  very  near  the  sol- 
stice. The  priests,  in  the  absence  of  an  accurate  cal- 
endar, were  enabled  to  determine  the  time  when  the 
inundation  was  due  by  watching  from  their  temples 
the  gradual  northward  movement  of  the  sun.  No 
doubt  the  temples  of  this  class  played  a  prominent 
part  in  the  ceremonies  connected  with  the  great 
annual  festival  which  celebrated  the  approach  of  the 
life-giving  flood. 

Other  temples  were  oriented  to  the  winter  solstice. 
Here,  too,  the  motive  is  not  far  to  seek.  As  the  sun 
was  the  personification  of  all  good,  its  gradual  sinking 
downward  in  the  south,  causing  shorter  days  and  a 
longer  reign  of  the  nocturnal  powers  of  darkness,  was 
naturally  regarded  with  foreboding  and  dread.  The 
cessation  of  this  southward  movement  and  the  begin- 
ning of  the  sun's  return  were  hailed  with  gladness  and 
made  the  occasion  of  joyous  festivities. 

Solar  Temples  in  Greece.  —  Although  the  worship  of 
the  sun  was  perhaps  more  thoroughly  organized  and 


SUN  MYTHS  AND  SUN  WORSHIP       7 

attended  by  more  elaborate  ceremonies  in  Egypt  than 
elsewhere,  yet  traces  of  this  cult  may  be  discovered  in 
nearly  every  land.  Recent  investigations  have  shown 
that  almost  all  the  Grecian  temples  were  oriented  so 
that  the  sunlight  might  enter  them  at  some  time  in  the 
year.  While  the  artistic  spirit  of  the  Greeks  trans- 
formed the  Egyptian  architectural  ideas  of  massiveness 
and  mystery  into  those  of  grace  and  beauty,  yet  the 
one  fundamental  thought  remained  the  same, —  an 
unobstructed  axis,  so  that  the  sun's  rays  might  pierce 
through  to  the  cella  and  render  glorious  the  statue 
of  the  god  there  erected. 

The  sun's  representative  in  the  Greek  pantheon  was 
Helios,  afterwards  identified,  partially  at  least,  with 
Phoebus  Apollo.  According  to  the  later  poets,  he  inhab- 
ited a  splendid  palace  somewhere  below  Colchis,  to 
which,  after  his  daily  drive  in  a  glowing  chariot  across 
the  sky,  he  was  conveyed  in  a  winged  boat  of  gold 
along;  the  northern  coast  of  the  Euxine  sea. 

o 

Baal  Worship.  —  The  Phoenicians  worshiped  the  sun 
under  the  name  of  Baal.  The  Moloch  of  the  Ammon- 
ites and  Chemosh  of  the  Moabites  were  probably  variant 
names  of  the  same  deity.  From  these  nations  the  Israel- 
ites borrowed  their  idolatrous  practices.  Some  have 


8  THE   STARS   IN   SONG   AND   LEGEND 

thought  that  the  Beltane,  or  sacred  fire  of  the  Celtic 
nations,  was  a  survival  of  Baal  worship.  However  this 
may  be,  it  is  certain  that  the  sun  was  reverenced 
among  these  peoples,  and  yearly  festivals  in  his  honor 
were  held. 

The  Druids.  -  -  The  priests  of  this  worship  were  the 
Druids.  They  seem  to  have  erected  no  temples,  but  to 
have  performed  their  rites  under  the  open  sky.  The 


STONEHENGE 


immense  circles  of  standing  stones,  of  which  Stone- 
henge  on  Salisbury  plain  is  the  most  famous,  probably 
marked  their  sacred  places.  The  circular  arrangement 


SUN   MYTHS   AND   SUN   WORSHIP  9 

of  these  monoliths  in  itself  suggests  a  connection  with 
the  worship  of  the  sun,  and  this  idea  has  received 
confirmation  by  the  discovery  that  the  single  large 
rock  lying  in  the  avenue  which  forms  the  approach  to 
Stonehenge  is  so  placed  that,  as  the  sun  rises  on  mid- 
summer's day,  its  shadow  falls  upon  the  central  altar. 
The  Druids,  like  the  Egyptian  priests,  no  doubt 
determined  in  this  way  the  turning  point  of  the  year. 
Mrs.  Hemans  thus  refers  to  this  Druidical  worship : 

Where  the  Druid's  ancient  cromlech  frowned, 
And  the  oaks  breathed  mysterious  murmurs  round, 
There  thronged  the  inspired  of  yore,  on  plain  or  height, 
In  the  sun's  face,  beneath  the  eye  of  light, 
And  baring  unto  heaven  each  noble  head, 
Stood  in  the  circle,  where  none  else  might  tread. 

Scandinavian  Myths.  —  In  the  cosmogony  of  the  north- 
ern nations  the  sun  naturally  played  a  prominent  part. 
The  conflict  of  the  wild,  bitter  forces  of  the  north  with 
the  genial,  radiant  influences  of  the  south  resulted  in 
the  birth  of  the  world  and  its  inhabitants.  Night  was 
of  the  race  of  the  giants,  and  Day  was  her  son.  To 
them  the  All-father  gave  chariots  and  horses.  As 
Night  courses  across  the  sky  the  foam  from  the  mouths 
of  her  steeds  flecks  the  earth  with  rime-drops.  Following 


10  THE   STARS   IN   SONG   AND   LEGEND 

close  in  her  tracks  comes  the  fair  youth  Day,  and  the 
light  which  streams  from  the  glowing  manes  of  his 
horses  illumines  the  sky  and  the  world. 

It  is  a  somewhat  curious  fact  that,  according  to  the 
Norse  mythology,  the  end  of  the  world,  as  well  as  its 
beginning,  will  be  due  to  the  agency  of  the  fire  prin- 
ciple. The  personification  of  this  principle  is  Loki, 
who  at  first  was  beneficent,  but  fell  from  his  high 
estate  and  became  destructive  like  a  raging  flame. 
His  progeny  will  finally,  in  the  "  twilight  of  the  gods," 
prevail  over  the  other  deities,  devouring  the  sun,  moon, 
and  stars,  and  scattering  abroad  firebrands  which  will 
burn  up,  not  only  the  world,  but  even  Valhalla  itself. 
Among  the  Scandinavian  as  well  as  the  Celtic  peoples, 
the  worship  of  fire  and  sun  seems  to  have  been  very 
prevalent. 

Peruvian  Sun  Worship.  —  Again,  in  far-away  Peru,  the 
Spanish  conquerors  found  this  cult  well  organized  with 
elaborate  ceremonials.  The  Incas  claimed  to  be  the 
children  of  the  sun,  and  his  worship  was  their  peculiar 
care.  In  Cuzco,  the  capital,  stood  a  splendid  temple 
with  an  image  of  the  sun  in  solid  gold  upon  the 
western  wall.  When  the  huge  doors  of  the  eastern 
portal  were  thrown  open,  the  rays  of  the  rising  sun 


SUN   MYTHS   AND   SUN   WORSHIP  11 

fell  full  upon  this  image,  which  shone  with  dazzling 
splendor.  All  of  the  implements  and  ornaments  of 
the  temple  were  likewise  of  gold.  In  the  figurative 
language  of  the  people,  gold  was  the  "  tears  wept  by 
the  sun." 

Orientation  of  Christian  Cathedrals.  —  We  thus  see  how 
exceedingly  widespread  was  the  worship  of  the  great 
luminary.  It  is  not  surprising  that  upon  the  introduc- 
tion of  Christianity  the  usages  incident  to  sun  worship 
could  not  be  wholly  displaced,  but  were  to  some  extent 
retained  and  adapted  to  Christian  ideas.  The  medieval 
cathedrals,  for  instance,  like  the  temples  of  Egypt  and 
Greece,  were  oriented  to  the  sunrise.  The  old  basilica 
of  Saint  Peter  at  Rome  was  so  exactly  aligned  to  the 
east,  that  when  the  great  doors  were  opened  on  the 
vernal  equinox,  the  sun's  rays  penetrated  straight 
through  the  nave  and  illuminated  the  high  altar. 
From  the  fifth  century  to  the  Renaissance  this  practice 
was  generally  carried  out,  many  even  of  the  old  Eng- 
lish cathedrals  facing  either  due  east  or  to  the  point 
of  sunrise  on  the  festival  of  their  patron  saint.  The 
mystical  reasons  given  in  defense  of  this  custom  were 
that  the  Saviour  on  the  cross  had  his  face  toward  the 
west  ;  hence  the  Christian's  sanctuary  should  have  its 


12     THE  STARS  IN  SONG  AND  LEGEND 

outlook  to  the  east,  where  also  in  the  last  day  Christ 
will  descend  from  heaven. 

But  what  necessity  for  explanation  or  apology  ? 
Where  in  all  nature  shall  we  find  a  more  fitting  type 
of  the  Uncreated  Glory  than  in  the  sun? 


LUNAR  FABLES   AND   FANCIES 

The  silver-footed  queen. 

HOMER. 

All  night,  through  archways  of  the  bridged  pearl 
And  portals  of  pure  silver,  walks  the  moon. 

TENNYSON  —  Sonnet. 

Moon  Worship  among  the  Ancients.  —  The  moon,  like 
the  sun,  had  her  worshipers.  Astarte,  the  beautiful 
but  licentious  Syrian  divinity,  called  by  the  Hebrews 
Ashtaroth,  or  the  Queen  of  Heaven,  was  a  moon 
goddess.  In  Greece  she  became  Selene,  and  with  the 
Romans,  Diana.  Following  classic  mythology,  we 
make  the  moon  feminine,  but  this  usage  is  not  by  any 
means  universal.  In  the  Scandinavian  myths  the 
moon  is  a  god  and  the  sun  a  goddess.  The  same 
inversion  of  gender  is  found  also  among  the  Arabians, 
the  Aztecs  and  Hindus.  Possibly  the  lugubrious  and 
unmistakably  masculine  countenance  which  the  full 
moon  shows,  may  be  to  some  extent  responsible  for 
this  practice.  Yet,  curiously  enough,  the  picture  seen 
in  the  lunar  spots  has  not  been  so  generally  a  human 

13 


14  THE   STAKS   IN   SONG   AND   LEGEND 

likeness.  The  folklore  both  of  the  eastern  and  the 
western  world  has  associated  them  far  more  frequently 
with  the  hare. 

Legend  of  Buddha.  —  According  to  a  Hindu  legend, 
Buddha,  in  an  early  stage  of  his  existence,  was  a  hare 
traveling  in  company  with  an  ape  and  a  fox.  The  god 
Indra,  disguised  as  a  beggar,  asked  them  for  food,  and 
the  three  went  out  to  seek  it.  The  hare  alone  returned 
from  his  quest  unsuccessful ;  and  not  wishing  to  seem 
lacking  in  hospitality,  ordered  a  fire  built,  and  cast 
himself  into  it  to  roast  for  his  guest's  supper.  In 
reward  for  this  heroic  devotion  to  duty,  the  god  placed 
him  in  the  moon.  Other  legends  locate  on  the  moon 
the  palace  of  the  king  of  the  hares  ;  and  some  of  the 
South  African  tribes  associated  the  hare  and  the  moon 
in  their  worship,  and  explained  the  markings  on  its 
face  as  the  result  of  scratches  inflicted  by  the  hare  in 
revenge  for  the  moon's  ill  treatment. 

The  Man  in  the  Moon.  —  The  "man  in  the  moon"  is 
so  plain  as  to  be  recognizable  at  a  glance.  Various 
stories  to  account  for  his  presence  there  have  been 
current.  One  of  the  most  widely  prevalent  connected 
him  with  the  Hebrew  who  was  stoned  for  gathering 
sticks  on  the  Sabbath.  A  variation  of  this  legend  as 


LUNAR   FABLES    AND  FANCIES  15 

given  by  many  writers  is  something  like  this  :  A  man 
traveling  on  Sunday  with  a  bundle  on  his  back  was 
met  by  a  fairy,  who  asked  him  why  he  worked  on  the 
Sabbath.  He  replied  :  "  Sunday  on  earth  or  Monday  in 
heaven,  it  is  all  one  to  me."  "  Then  carry  your  bundle 
forever,"  she  answered.  "As  you  have  no  regard  for 
Sunday  on  earth,  take  your  perpetual  Monday  (Moon- 
day)  in  heaven  and  travel  with  the  moon."  So  there 
he  still  remains. 

Scandinavian  folklore  recognizes  on  the  moon  two 
children  bearing  a  pail  of  water  suspended  on  a  pole 
from  their  shoulders.  This  is  probably  the  original  of 
our  Jack  and  Jill,  the  vanishing  of  one  spot  after 
another  as  the  moon  wanes,  representing  the  fall  first 
of  Jack  and  then  of  Jill. 

The  Lady  in  the  Moon.  —  The  "  man  in  the  moon  "  is 
decidedly  homely,  not  to  say  ugly  ;  but  a  much  more 
beautiful  as  well  as  more  striking  likeness  to  a  human 
countenance  may  be  seen  by  those  who  know  where 
to  look  for  it.  Upon  the  western  half  of  the  moon, 
with  face  slightly  upturned  towards  the  east,  can  be 
traced  the  profile  of  a  lovely  maiden.  In  modern 
times  this  has  received  the  name  of  Selene,  the  Greek 
title  of  the  moon  goddess.  Whether  it  has  ever  been 


1C 


THE  STARS  IN  SONG  AND  LEGEND 


recognized  previous  to  our  day  seems  to  be  doubtful; 
yet   legends   of   fair  women   in   connection   with   our 


Actual  Contour 


The  Face  accentuated 


THE  LADY  IN  THE  MOON 

satellite  are  to  be  found  in  every  age.     In  classic  times 
we  have  the  identification  of  the  moon  with  Diana. 

Queen  and  huntress,  chaste  and  fair, 

Now  the  sun  is  laid  to  sleep, 
Seated  in  thy  silver  chair, 

State  in  wonted  manner  keep. 

BEN  JONSON. 

Sometimes  it  is  Diana's  chariot,  rather  than  the 
goddess  herself,  as  in  her  wooing  of  Endymion  told 
by  Morris : 

There  came  a  vision  of  a  lovely  maid, 
Who  seemed  to  step,  as  from  a  golden  car, 
Out  of  the  low-hung  moon. 


LUNAR   FABLES   AND   FANCIES  17 

Then  the  Incas  of  Peru  had  their  story  of  a  beauti- 
ful maiden,  who  in  the  long-ago  fell  in  love  with  the 
moon  and  cast  herself  into  his  arms  ;  while  some  of 
the  Pacific  islanders  made  the  moon  the  rough  wooer 
who  snatched  a  fair  bride  from  the  earth.  The 
Indian  legend  regarding  the  moon  spots  is  told  by 
Longfellow,  where  Hiawatha 

Saw  the  moon  rise  from  the  water, 

Rippling,  rounding  from  the  water, 

Saw  the  flecks  and  shadows  on  it, 

Whispered,  "  What  is  that,  Nokomis  ?  " 

And  the  good  Nokomis  answered, 

"  Once  a  warrior  very  angry, 

Seized  his  grandmother  and  threw  her 

Up  into  the  sky  at  midnight ; 

Right  against  the  moon  he  threw  her ; 

'Tis  her  body  that  you  see  there." 

Many  other  stories  about  these  markings  might  be 
collected.  All  of  them,  of  course,  like  the  pictures  one 
sees  in  the  fire,  are  purely  children  of  the  fancy. 

Supposed  Resemblance  to  the  Earth.  —  Vague  notions  of 
a  possible  resemblance  to  the  earth  seem  now  and  then 
to  have  been  entertained.  The  Druids,  we  are  told, 
imagined  seas  upon  its  surface,  and  even  considered  it 


18  THE   STARS   IN   SONG   AND   LEGEND 

to  be  the  residence  of  happy  souls  who  at  death  were 
borne  thither  on  a  whirlwind.  But  it  was  not  until 
the  invention  of  the  telescope  that  this  idea  took  defi- 
nite shape.  Milton,  the  contemporary  of  Galileo, 
immortalized  the  discovery  of  his  astronomer  friend, 
comparing  Satan's  shield  to 

.  .  .  the  moon,  whose  orb 
Through  optic  glass  the  Tuscan  artist  views 
At  evening  from  the  top  of  Fesole, 
Or  in  Valdarno,  to  descry  new  lands, 
Rivers  or  mountains  in  her  spotty  globe. 

To  be  sure,  this  likeness  to  the  earth  did  not  prove 
to  be  so  close  as  the  early  telescopic  observers  fondly 
dreamed.  Many  of  their  beautiful  fancies  faded  away, 
leaving  the  moon  a  lifeless,  waterless,  and  airless  world. 
What  wonder  that  philosophers  and  poets,  in  despair  at 
the  uninviting  prospect  presented  by  science  for  their 
contemplation  on  the  hither  side  of  the  moon,  have 
turned  for  consolation  to  the  farther  side,  allowing  their 
imaginations  to  run  riot  in  depicting  its  loveliness  and 
splendor ! 

Thus  Robert  Browning : 

What,  there's  nothing  in  the  moon  noteworthy? 
Nay  :    for  if  that  moon  could  love  a  mortal, 


LUNAB   FABLES   AND   FANCIES  19 

Use,  to  charm  him  (so  to  fit  a  fancy), 

All  her  magic  ('t  is  the  old  sweet  mythos), 

She  would  turn  a  new  side  to  her  mortal, 

Side  unseen  of  herdsman,  huntsman,  steersman,— 

Blank  to  Zoroaster  on  his  terrace, 

Blind  to  Galileo  on  his  turret, 

Dumb  to  Homer,  dumb  to  Keats  —  him,  even ! 

Think,  the  wonder  of  the  moon-struck  mortal, 

When  she  turns  round,  comes  again  in  heaven, 

Opens  out  anew  for  worse  or  better! 

What  were  seen  ?     None  knows,  none  ever  shall  know. 

Only  this  is  sure  —  the  sight  were  other, 

Not  the  moon's  same  side,  born  late  in  Florence, 

Dying  now  impoverished  here  in  London. 

God  be  thanked,  the  meanest  of  his  creatures 

Boasts  two  soul-sides,  one  to  face  the  world  with, 

One  to  show  a  woman  when  he  loves  her ! 

—  One  Word  More. 

Moon  Superstitions.  —  Modern  superstitions  concerning 
the  moon  are  quite  numerous,  and  much  more  widely 
credited  than  would  be  supposed  possible  in  this 
enlightened  age.  One  of  the  most  common  is  the 
expectation  of  good  luck  if  the  new  moon  be  first 
seen  over  the  right  shoulder.  Rustic  belles  frequently 
attempt  in  this  way  to  discover  their  future  partners, 


20  THE   STARS   IN   SONG   AND   LEGEND 

the   glance   at   the   moon   being   accompanied   by   an 

incantation : 

I  prithee,  good  moon,  declare  to  me 
This  night  who  my  husband  shall  be. 

A  dream  is  expected  to  follow  giving  the  desired 
information. 

In  rural  neighborhoods  also  the  belief  in  the  moon's 
influence  on  vegetation  is  very  strong.  The  general 
rule  seems  to  be  that  things  which  grow  in  the  ground, 
like  potatoes,  must  be  planted  in  the  dark  of  the 
moon,  and  those  that  grow  above  ground  in  the  light 
of  the  moon.  The  old  superstition  about  the  malign 
influence  of  the  moon  on  the  human  body  is  largely 
dispelled.  Though  lunacy  is,  perhaps,  not  less  com- 
mon than  formerly,  we  no  longer  attribute  it  to  the 
changing  aspects  of  fair  Luna.  Not  so,  however, 
with  the  weather.  There  is  never  a  storm  nor  a 
drought,  a  cold  wave  or  hot  wave,  but  the  poor 
moon  is  held  responsible.  Every  change  of  the 
weather,  expected  or  unexpected,  is  readily  accounted 
for  by  the  appearance,  position,  or  phase  of  the 
moon. 

One  old  writer  described  the  moon  as  "  the  great 
depository  of  misspent  time,  wasted  wealth,  broken 


21 

vows,  unanswered  prayers,  fruitless  tears,  abortive 
attempts,  unfulfilled  desires  and  intentions."  If  we 
could  only  add  to  this  list  unfounded  superstitions,  of 
what  a  vast  amount  of  useless  rubbish  should  we  clear 
the  world ! 


THE   STARRY   HEAVENS 

Stars  with  golden  feet  aiv  wand'ring 

Yonder,  and  they  gently  weep 
That  they  cannot  earth  awaken 

Who  in  night's  arms  is  asleep. 

HEINE. 

Number  of  the  Stars.  —  When  we  gaze  into  the  star- 
bespangled  vault  we  are  apt  to  experience  a  certain 
bewilderment.  Those  glittering  gems  seem  to  stand 
"thick  as  dewdrops  on  the  fields  of  heaven,"  and  to  be 
absolutely  numberless.  The  sands  upon  the  seashore 
and  the  stars  of  heaven  have  ever  been  symbols  of  infin- 
itude. Thus  God  said  to  Abraham,  "  I  will  multiply 
thy  seed  as  the  stars  of  heaven,  and  as  the  sand  which 
is  upon  the  seashore  "  ;  and  of  David,  "  As  the  host  of 
heaven  cannot  be  numbered,  neither  the  sand  of  the 
sea  measured  ;  so  I  will  multiply  the  seed  of  David  my 
servant." 

That  the  number  of  the  stars  revealed  by  the  tel- 
escope does  actually  exceed  the  possibility  of  reckoning 
is  absolutely  true ;  but  when  we  begin  to  count  those 


# 


I  .V';'-i 


1 


* 


THE   STARRY  HEAVENS  23 

that  can  be  certainly  discerned  with  the  naked  eye,  we 
discover  that  they  are  not  so  innumerable  as  they  seem. 
Seldom  can  more  than  two  thousand  be  distinguished  at 
any  one  time ;  but  this  number  is  not  sharply  defined,  for 
a  multitude  hover  just  on  the  verge  of  visibility  and 
under  favorable  conditions  start,  as  it  were,  into  being. 

The  Constellations.  —  Although  scattered  in  apparent 
confusion  over  the  sphere,  yet  the  brighter  stars  form 
many  striking  configurations,  which  from  the  earliest 
ages  have  been  recognized  and  named.  The  great 
majority  of  the  constellations  date  back  to  prehistoric 
times.  Forty-eight  of  them  come  down  to  us  from  days 
preceding  those  of  Homer  and  of  Hesiod.  Not  many 
of  these  groups  show  any  resemblance  to  the  objects  for 
which  they  are  named,  and  it  is  therefore  impossible  in 
most  cases  to  discover  the  relationship  supposed  to  exist, 
or  the  consideration  which  influenced  the  choice  of  appel- 
lation. Evidently  imagination  was  the  most  potent 
factor  in  determining  the  nomenclature  of  the  sky. 

To  some  extent  we  find  different  systems  prevailing 
among  different  nations ;  but  it  is  to  Greece  that  we 
principally  owe  the  figures  which  are  now  depicted  on 
our  celestial  globes,  and  the  many  interesting  myths 
associated  with  them.  Not  that  all  the  constellations 


24  THE   STARS   IN   SONG   AND   LEGEND 

primarily  originated  in  that  country ;  for  the  Greeks, 
great  astronomers  though  they  were,  were  also  great 
travelers,  and  were  ever  ready  to  borrow  from  other 
peoples  and  other  civilizations.  We  know  that  many 
of  their  wise  men  visited  Egypt,  and  brought  back 
thence  much  curious  information  gathered  in  the  silent, 
mysterious  temples,  or  wormed  out  of  the  sphinx-like 
priests.  Even  more  of  their  astronomical  knowledge, 
however,  was  probably  obtained  from  the  Chaldeans, 
who  were  especially  proficient  in  that  science.  Among 
the  Romans  Chaldean  and  Astrologer  were  synonymous 
terms.  Isaiah  also  mentions  Babylon  as  the  home  of 
the  astrologers,  the  star-gazers,  and  the  monthly  prog- 
nosticators  ;  and  we  must  remember  that  there  was  then 
no  definite  distinction  between  astrology  and  astronomy. 
In  particular,  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  con- 
stellations was  requisite  for  the  casting  of  horoscopes. 
It  is,  therefore,  probably  true,  as  Ideler  asserted  nearly 
a  century  ago,  that  the  majority  of  the  constellations 
originated  on  the  Euphrates.  With  regard  to  the  zodiac 
certainly,  there  is  a  general  agreement  of  opinion  among 
archaeologists  that  its  twelve  divisions  or  signs,  each 
marked  by  a  corresponding  star  group,  have  come  down 
to  us  from  Accadian  or  pre-Babylonian  peoples. 


THE   STAKE Y   HEAVENS  25 

The  Zodiac. --This  zone  or  girdle,  stretching  around 
the  celestial  sphere,  might  be  called  the  zoological 
garden  of  the  sky,  our  title,  zodiac,  coming  from  the 
Greek  and  signifying  "  a  circle  of  animals."  Previous 
to  the  introduction  of  Libra,  the  Scales,  which  occurred 
at  a  comparatively  late  epoch,  all  the  signs,  in  fact,  rep- 
resented living  creatures.  Notwithstanding  this  addi- 
.tion,  the  division  into  twelve  parts  seems  to  have  been 
very  ancient,  the  Scorpion  being  originally  a  double  sign 
and  the  Claws  occupying  the  present  position  of  Libra. 

We  may,  no  doubt,  trace  this  duodecimal  division  to 
the  twelve  months  which  constitute  the  solar  year  ; 
each  sign  would  thus  measure  the  progress  of  the  sun 
during  one  complete  revolution  of  the  moon.  It  were 
rash,  perhaps,  to  ascribe  the  sacred  character  of  the 
number  twelve  to  this  source  ;  yet  Josephus  associated 
the  twelve  stones  in  the  breastplate  of  the  high  priest 
with  the  constellations  of  the  zodiac ;  and  the  twelve  gates 
of  the  celestial  city  of  Saint  John's  apocalyptic  vision, 
each  several  gate  of  one  pearl,  not  unnaturally  suggest 
the  twelve  starry  portals  of  the  sun's  annual  journey. 
Schiller  at  any  rate  has  expressed  the  thought : 

Twelve !  twelve  signs  hath  the  zodiac,  five  and  seven ; 
The  holy  numbers  include  themselves  in  twelve. 


26  THE   STAKS   IN   SONG   AND   LEGEND 

For  one  who  desires  to  familiarize  himself  with  the 
configurations  of  the  stars,  it  will  be  well  to  begin  with 
the  zodiacal  constellations.  Since  they  follow  each 
other  in  a  continuous  belt  around  the  sky,  the  recog- 
nition of  a  few  prominent  ones  assists  in  locating  the 
rest :  thus,  the  Pleiades  mark  Taurus ;  Castor  and 
Pollux  distinguish  Gemini ;  the  sickle  indicates  Leo ; 
Virgo  may  be  known  by  the  lone  star  Spica,  Scorpio  by 
the  fiery  Antares,  and  Sagittarius  by  the  arrowhead. 
The  last  three,  Capricornus,  Aquarius,  and  Pisces,  are 
less  distinct,  but  may  be  traced  with  a  little  patience. 
Moreover,  if  these  groups  are  familiar,  we  have  celestial 
landmarks,  so  to  speak,  some  of  which  are  always  visi- 
ble ;  and  by  their  help  other  constellations,  contiguous 
to  the  north  or  south,  may  be  found.  Assuming  that 
the  two  principal  circumpolar  constellations,  the  Great 
Dipper  and  the  celestial  "W,"  or  Cassiopeia's  Chair, 
lying  on  opposite  sides  of  the  pole  star,  are  also  known, 
the  remaining  regions  of  the  sky  are  not  so  extensive 
but  that,  with  the  assistance  of  a  good  atlas,  they  may 
be  surveyed  and  their  mystic  figures  traced  without 
serious  difficulty. 


Now  the  zephyrs  diminish  the  cold,  and  the  year  being  ended, 
Winter  Maeotian  seems  longer  than  ever  before ; 
And  the  Ram  that  bore  unsafely  the  burden  of  Helle, 
Now  makes  the  hours  of  the  day  equal  with  those  of  the  night. 

LONGFELLOW —  Translation  from  Ovid. 

ARIES  is  the  first  sign  of  the  zodiac.  Two  or  three 
thousand  years  ago,  when  these  constellations  were 
originally  fashioned,  it  marked  the  vernal  equinox,  the 
passage  of  the  sun  through  which  betokens  the  opening 
of  spring ;  but  owing  to  the  precession  or  slow  west- 
ward movement  of  the  equinoctial  points,  Aries  no 
longer  occupies  this  place  of  honor  but  has  drifted  on 
to  the  eastward.  Spenser  in  the  Faerie  Queene  very 
correctly  sets  forth  this  fact : 

For  that  same  golden  fleecy  Eam,  which  bore 
Phrixus  and  Helle  from  their  stepdame's  feares, 
Hath  now  forgot  where  he  was  plast  of  yore, 
And  shouldered  hath  the  Bull,  which  fayre  Europa  bore. 

The  constellation  is  not  particularly  brilliant,  yet 
Aratus'  description, 

27 


28     THE  STARS  IN  SONG  AND  LEGEND 

Faint  and  starless  to  behold 
As  stars  by  moonlight, 

scarcely  does  it  justice. 

The  Phenomena  of  Aratus.  —  The  poem  of  Aratus,  just 
quoted,  is  the  earliest  description  of  tlie  starry  heavens 
now  extant.  It  is  entitled  The  Phenomena,  and  was 
written  in  the  third  century  B.C.  So  popular  was 
it  with  the  Greeks  and  afterwards  with  the  Romans, 
that  Landseer  tells  us  "  it  became  the  polite  amuse- 
ment of  the  ladies  to  work  the  celestial  forms  in  gold 
and  silver  on  the  most  costly  hangings."  Even  in 
more  modern  times  this  popularity  does  not  seem  to 
have  waned,  as  shown  by  the  fact  that  no  less  than 
one  hundred  and  twenty  editions  in  the  various  lan- 
guages of  Europe  have  appeared  since  the  invention 
of  printing.  The  chief  value  of  the  poem  lies  in  the 
accurate  knowledge  it  affords  us  of  the  early  arrange- 
ment of  the  constellations,  our  present  star  maps  being, 
indeed,  to  a  large  extent  based  upon  it.  Aratus  has 
also  for  us  an  added  interest  as  the  poet  whom  Saint 
Paul  quotes  in  his  speech  on  Mars'  Hill  to  the  novelty 
loving  Athenians,  the  line, 

For  \ve  are  also  his  offspring, 
occurring  in  the  opening  dedication. 


AKIES,  THE    KAM  29 

Mythology  of  Aries. —-To  return  to  our  constellation, 
it  represents  in  mythology  the  ram  with  the  golden 
fleece  of  Argonautic  fame,  whose  story  briefly  told  is 
this.  Phrixus  and  Helle  were  the  children  of  Athamas, 
a  legendary  king  of  Thessaly,  who  afterward  repudiated 
his  first  wife  and  married  another.  To  enable  the 
children  to  escape  the  displeasure  of  their  stepmother, 
Mercury  sent  a  ram,  which  took  them  on  its  back, 
vaulted  into  the  air,  and  rushed  off  towards  the  east. 
In  crossing  the  strait  that  divides  Europe  from  Asia, 
Helle  became  frightened,  lost  her  hold,  and  fell  into 
the  sea,  which  thereafter  was  known  as  the  Hellespont. 
Continuing  his  flight,  the  ram  bore  the  boy  to  Colchis, 
at  the  eastern  end  of  the  Euxine  or  Black  sea.  In 
return  for  his  kind  reception,  Phrixus  sacrificed  the 
ram  and  gave  its  golden  fleece  to  the  king  of  the 
country,  who  hung  it  in  the  sacred  grove  of  Ares 
under  the  guard  of  a  sleepless  dragon.  As  we  shall 
see,  several  other  constellations  are  associated  with  the 
further  history  of  this  remarkable  fleece. 

Hamal.  —  The  chief  star  of  Aries,  marking  his  fore- 
head, was  called  by  the  Arabs  Hamal,  a  sheep.  Among 
the  Greeks  in  early  times  this  star  held  the  important 
office  of  sunrise  herald  at  the  vernal  equinox. 


TAURUS,   THE  BULL 

Sweet  Europa's  mantle  blew  unclasp'd, 

From  off  her  shoulder  backward  borne : 
From  one  hand  droop'd  a  crocus ;  one  hand  grasp'd 

The  mild  bull's  golden  horn. 

TENNYSON  —  Palace  of  Art. 

TAURUS  is  one  of  the  most  notable  of  all  the  constel- 
lations, containing  within  its  borders  two  celebrated 
groups  of  stars,  the  Hyades  and  the  Pleiades.  The 
Roman  year  prior  to  the  time  of  Julius  Cassar  began 
in  March.  At  that  season  Taurus  is  just  visible  on 
the  western  horizon,  setting  after  the  sun ;  hence 
Virgil's  well-known  description : 

The  white  bull  opens  with  his  golden  horns  the  year. 

In  legendary  lore  it  was  Europa's  bull,  Jupiter 
having  assumed  this  disguise  to  bear  the  maiden  away 
from  her  companions,  with  whom  she  was  sporting  on 
the  shores  of  her  native  Phoenicia,  to  the  island  of 
Crete.  On  our  star  maps,  following  the  ancient 
representation,  only  the  front  part  of  the  animal  is 
depicted.  This,  as  usually  explained,  is  because  he 

30 


TAURUS,  THE   BULL  31 

is  swimming  through  the  sea,  and  his  flanks  are 
immersed  in  the  waves. 

The  Hyades.  —  The  Hyades,  which  Aratus  accurately 
describes  as 

Whitening  all  the  bull's  broad  forehead, 

form  a  most  conspicuous  and  beautiful  group.  They 
were  daughters  of  Atlas,  and  together  with  their  half- 
sisters,  the  Pleiades,  were  called  Atlantides.  The 
appellation  Hyades,  supposed  to  be  derived  from  the 
Greek  word  for  rain,  is  usually  attributed  to  their 
reputed  influence  on  the  weather.  In  the  showery 
springtime  they  set  just  after  the  sun,  and  in  the 
stormy  period  of  late  fall  just  before  sunrise.  Why 
the  stars  in  these  special  positions  should  exercise  more 
than  ordinary  control  over  terrestrial  affairs  would  be 
difficult  to  explain ;  but  the  notion  was  extremely 
prevalent  in  ancient  times  that  the  heliacal  rising  or 
setting,  as  it  was  called,  of  the  heavenly  bodies  had 
some  peculiar  influence ;  the  heat  of  the  dog  days,  for 
instance,  being  ascribed  to  the  appearance  of  Sirius 
above  the  horizon  just  before  sunrise.  Whether  or  not 
the  suggested  derivation  of  the  word  be  correct,  however, 
moisture  and  storm  were  universally  attributed  to  the 


32  THE   STARS   IN   SONG   AND   LEGEND 

Hyades.  The  classic  writers  again  and  again  refer  to 
them  as  the  rain  stars;  Spenser  called  them  "moist 
daughters,"  and  in  Tennyson's  Ulysses  we  read : 

Through  scudding  drifts  the  rainy  Hyades 
Vex'd  the  dim  sea. 

Aldebaran.  —  Aldebaran,  the  bright  star  in  the  Hyades 
group,  signifies  "  hindmost."  The  Arabians  so  named 
it  because  it  follows  or  drives  the  Pleiades.  Another 
popular  title  is  "  the  Bull's-eye,"  from  its  position 
in  the  constellation.  The  slight  tinge  of  red  in  the 
light  of  this  star  gives  it  an  added  beauty,  and  makes 
it  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  ornaments  of  our  win- 
ter nights.  Mrs.  Sigourney  in  The  Stars  thus  firiely 

portrays  it : 

Go  forth  at  night 

And  talk  with  Aldebaran,  where  he  flames 
In  the  cold  forehead  of  the  wintry  sky. 

The  Pleiades.  —  The  Pleiades  lie  upon  the  neck  of  the 
Bull,  where  they  seem  to  cluster,  as  Bayard  Taylor  has 
it,  like  golden  bees  upon  its  mane,  or,  as  Tennyson 
beautifully  describes  them,  like  fireflies  in  the  even- 
ing's dusk : 

Many  a  night  I  saw  the  Pleiads,  rising  through  the  mellow  shade, 
Glitter  like  a  swarm  of  fireflies  tangled  iu  a  silver  braid. 


TAURUS,  THE   BULL  33 

With  the  Greeks  these  were  the  sailing  stars,  indi- 
cating by  their  heliacal  rising  the  opening  of  navigation 
in  May ;  and  this  has  been  the  common  derivation  of 
the  title  Pleiades,  from  the  Greek  "to  sail,"  but  it 
seems  more  probable  that  it  comes  from  another  word 
signifying  "many."  Some  of  the  classic  poets  made 
them  a  flock  of  pigeons  flying  from  the  celestial  hunter 
Orion,  and  in  popular  folklore  they  have  been  widely 
known  as  the  "  hen  and  her  chickens,"  Alcyone,  the 
brightest  star,  being  the  "  golden  cluck-hen,"  though 
sometimes  this  star  is  a  girl  who  is  feeding  the  brood. 
A  favorite  eastern  simile  has  been  that  of  a  necklace 
of  brilliant  gems,  and  it  is  even  possible  that  this  may 
have  been  the  thought  in  the  mind  of  the  sacred  writer 

o 

in  the  Book  of  Job,  for  the  passage  has  been  translated, 
"Canst  thou  bind  together  the  brilliant  Pleiades?"  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  we  follow  Milton, 

the  gray 

Dawn  and  the  Pleiades  before  him  danced, 
Shedding  sweet  influence, 

then  it  is  the  gentle  but  potent  power  of  advancing 

spring  which  this  group  by  its  heliacal  rising  heralds. 

Not  only  to  civilized  peoples  have  these  stars  been 

objects  of  interest ;    "  out  of  the  dim  reveries  about 


34     THE  STARS  IN  SONG  AND  LEGEND 

them  of  untutored  races,  issued  their  association  with 
the  seven  beneficent  sky  spirits  of  the  Vedas  and  the 
Zendavesta,  and  the  location  among  them  of  the  center 
of  the  universe  and  the  abode  of  the  Deity,  of  which 
the  tradition  is  still  preserved  by  the  Berbers  and  Dyaks. 
With  November,  the  Pleiad  month,  many  primitive  peo- 
ple began  then:  year ;  and  on  the  day  of  the  midnight 
culmination  of  the  Pleiades,  November  17,  no  petition 
was  presented  in  vain  to  the  ancient  kings  of  Persia ; 
the  same  event  gave  the  signal  at  Busiris  for  the  com- 
mencement of  the  feast  of  Isis.  .  .  .  Savage  Australian 
tribes  to  this  day  dance  in  honor  of  the  i  Seven  stars,' 
because  '  they  are  very  good  to  the  black  fellows.' "  l 

The  Lost  Pleiad.  —  The  legend  of  the  lost  Pleiad  has 
been  well-nigh  universal.  Long  ago  Aratus  wrote, 
"  Seven  stars  they  count,  but  only  six  appear."  With 
poets  it  has  been  a  favorite  theme. 

And  is  there  glory  from  the  heavens  departed? 

Oh!    void  unmarked!—      Thy  sisters  of  the  sky 

Still  hold  their  place  on  high, 
Though  from  its  rank  thine  orb  so  long  hath  started, 

Thou,  that  no  more  art  seen  of  mortal  eye. 

MRS.   HEMAXS —  The  Lost  Pleiad. 

1  Miss  Clerke's  System  of  the  Stars,  pp.  220-221. 


TAUKUS,  THE   BULL  35 

But  when  we  consider  that  under  favorable  circum- 
stances as  many  as  a  dozen  can  be  seen  with  the 
unaided  vision,  while  optical  assistance  increases  them 
to  five  or  six  hundred,  and  the  photographic  plate 
again  multiplies  this  fivefold,  we  are  forced  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  number  is  simply  a  matter  of  eye 
and  telescope. 

As  to  which  of  the  seven  sisters  disappeared,  mythol- 
ogy is  uncertain.  According  to  one  story  it  was 
Electra,  who  hid  her  face  that  she  might  not  see  the 
destruction  of  Troy,  founded  by  her  son  Dardanus ; 
but  another  account  identifies  her  with  Merope,  who, 
having  been  deceived  into  marrying  a  mortal,  felt  so 
disgraced  that  she  withdrew  herself  from  the  company 
of  her  sisters. 

Alcyone.  —  Alcyone,  the  lucida  of  this  group,  is  asso- 
ciated with  the  halcyon,  the  similarity  of  the  words 
lending  color  to  the  idea  that  they  had  a  common 
origin.  Thompson,  the  English  ornithologist,  hazards 
the  conjecture  that  the  connection  between  them  may 
be  found  in  the  fact  that  Alcyone  culminates  at  night- 
fall about  the  time  of  the  winter  solstice,  during  the 
calm  weather  accompanying  which  season  the  king- 
fisher, our  modern  representative  of  the  ancient 


36     THE  STARS  IN  SONG  AND  LEGEND 

halcyon,  was  believed  to  nest.  Milton  in  his  Hymn 
to  the  Nativity  connects  this  legend  with  the  time  of 
universal  peace  at  the  Saviour's  birth : 

But  peaceful  was  the  night 
Wherein  the  Prince  of  light 

His  reign  of  peace  upon  the  earth  began; 
The  winds  with  wonder  whist 
Smoothly  the  waters  kist, 

Whispering  new  joys  to  the  mild  ocean, 
Who  now  hath  quite  forgot  to  rave, 
While  birds  of  calm  sit  brooding  on  the  charmed  wave. 

The  old  myth  is  something  like  this.  Halcyone, 
the  daughter  of  Eolus  the  wind-god,  was  the  devoted 
wife  of  Ceyx,  king  of  Thessaly.  Desiring  to  consult 
the  oracle  of  Apollo,  against  the  protestations  of  his 
wife,  Ceyx  embarked  upon  the  winter  sea  and  was 
shipwrecked  and  drowned.  Halcyone,  wandering  dis- 
consolately upon  the  shore,  sees  his  body  floating  on 
the  waves,  and  in  her  grief  and  despair  rushes  into 
the  raging  waters  to  cast  herself  upon  the  beloved 
form.  Then  behold,  a  miracle !  They  are  both 
changed  into  halcyon  birds  and  skim  across  the  bil- 
lows, which  at  once  sink  to  rest,  and  calm  succeeds 
the  wild  tempest. 


TAURUS,  THE   BULL  37 

Alcyone  has  of  late  years  become  more  than  ever 
an  object  of  popular  regard,  from  the  brilliant  specu- 
lations of  Madler,  who  surmised  that  it  might  be 
the  central  sun  of  the  whole  vast  stellar  universe. 
But  though  further  investigations  fail  entirely  to  cor- 
roborate his  views,  still  the  star  is  one  that  may 
well  enthrall  the  fancy.  Lying  sunk  in  space  at  a 
depth  too  great  to  fathom,  and  outshining  our  own 
sun  a  thousandfold,  Archibald  Lampman's  magnificent 
description  is  hardly  overdrawn : 

.  .  .  the  great  and  "burning  star, 
Immeasurably  old,  immeasurably  far, 
Surging  forth  its  silver  flame 
Through  eternity ! 

Nebula  of  the  Pleiades.  —  The  investigations  of  the 
Pleiades  by  modern  astronomy  have  led  to  many  sur- 
prises. Most  startling  of  all  is  the  fact  that  the  group 
combines  the  characteristics  of  a  vast  nebula  with  those 
of  a  cluster,  thus  indicating  that  these  two  classes  of 
objects  are  not  in  reality  as  distinct  as  was  formerly 
supposed.  The  magnificent  photographs  taken  by  the 
Henry  Brothers  at  Paris  show  that  the  greater  part  of 
the  constellation  is  enshrouded  in  nebulous  matter.  In 
the  neighborhood  of  the  principal  stars  it  lies  in  heavy 


38  THE   STARS   IN   SONG   AND   LEGEND 

masses,  while  elsewhere  the  sky  background  is  scarcely 
stained  by  its  delicate  tracery.  The  condensation  is 
greatest  around  Merope,  thus  giving  plausibility  to 
the  conjecture  that  the  light  of  this  star  may  be 
variable. 

This  enfolding  nebulosity,  together  with  the  common 
drift  of  the  majority  of  the  stars,  renders  it  certain 
that  the  Pleiades  constitute  a  connected  system,  the 
grandeur  of  which,  however,  exceeds  our  comprehen- 
sion. A  ray  of  light,  which  would  take  but  a  few 
hours  to  cross  the  solar  system,  could  not  under  several 
years  fly  from  boundary  to  boundary  of  this  miniature 
universe  of  suns. 


GEMINI,   THE   TWINS 

Mild  Pollux,  void  of  blame, 
And  steed-subduing  Castor,  heirs  of  fame. 

SHELLEY —  Translation  of  Homer. 

CASTOR  and  Pollux,  the  twins,  were  the  sons  of 
Leda,  and  hence  these  stars  are  sometimes  known  as 
the  Ledasan  lights.  Thus  Owen  Meredith  in  Tlie 
Wanderer  : 

The  lone  Ledsean  lights  from  yon  enchanted  air 

Look  down  upon  my  spirit,  like  a  spirit's  eyes  that  love  me ; 

recalling  Cowley's  earlier  lines  : 

How  oft  unwearied  have  we  spent  the  nights, 
Till  the  Ledsean  stars,  so  famed  for  love, 
Wonder'd  at  us  from  above. 

Helen,  of  Trojan  fame,  was  their  sister.  They 
accompanied  the  Argonautic  expedition ;  and  when 
on  the  return  voyage  the  vessel  was  almost  over- 
whelmed in  the  storm,  Orpheus  with  his  lyre  invoked 
Apollo,  who  caused  two  stars  to  appear  on  the  heads 
of  the  twins,  and  the  tempest  was  allayed.  From  this 

39 


40  THE   STARS   IN   SONG   AND   LEGEND 

circumstance  Castor  and  Pollux  became  the  tutelary 
deities  of  the  seamen;  and  among  the  Romans  it  was 
very  common  to  place  their  effigies  upon  the  prows  of 
vessels.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Saint  Paul  and 
his  companions  made  the  latter  part  of  their  voyage 
to  Rome  in  a  vessel  whose  sign  was  Castor  and  Pollux. 
The  lambent  flames  which  sometimes  in  heavy 
weather  play  about  the  mastheads  were  regarded  as 
typifying  the  twin  gods.  Thus  Horace  speaks  of  them 
as  "  Helen's  brethren,  starry  lights  "  ;  but  a  single  flame 
was  thought  to  represent  Helen  herself,  and  was  con- 
sidered a  threatening  omen.  In  modern  times  these 
electrical  displays,  for  such  they  are,  go  by  the  name 
of  Saint  Helen's  or  Saint  Elmo's  lights.  The  Padrone 
in  Longfellow's  Golden  Legend  tells  the  prince : 

Last  night  I  saw  Saint  Elmo's  stars, 

With  their  glittering  lanterns  all  at  play 

On  the  tops  of  the  masts  and  the  tips  of  the  spars, 

And  I  knew  we  should  have  foul  weather  to-day. 

Castor  was  a  renowned  horseman  and  Pollux  a  famous 
pugilist.  Both  were  great  warriors,  and  were  frequently 
invoked  in  battle  as  well  as  in  storm.  Macaulay's 
description  of  how  they  turned  the  tide  of  conflict  in 
the  battle  of  Lake  Regillus  is  familiar  to  all. 


GEMINI,  THE   TWINS  41 

So  spake  he,  and  was  buckling 

Tighter  black  Auster's  band, 

When  he  was  aware  of  a  princely  pair 

That  rode  at  his  right  hand. 

So  like  were  they,  no  mortal 

Might  one  from  other  know: 

White  as  snow  their  armor  was ; 

Their  steeds  were  white  as  snow. 

Never  on  earthly  anvil 

Did  such  rare  armor  gleam ; 

And  never  did  such  gallant  steeds 

Drink  of  an  earthly  stream. 

After  the  battle  they  bore  the  glad  tidings  to  Rome 
and  were  recognized  by  the  high  Pontiff. 

The  gods  who  live  forever 
Have  fought  for  Rome  to-day ! 
These  be  the  great  Twin  Brethren 
To  whom  the  Dorians  pray. 
Back  comes  the  chief  in  triumph, 
Who  in  the  hour  of  fight 
Hath  seen  the  great  Twin  Brethren 
In  harness  on  his  right. 
Safe  comes  the  ship  to  haven 
Through  billows  and  through  gales, 
If  once  the  great  Twin  Brethren 
Sit  shining  on  the  sails. 


42  THE    STAKS   IN   SONG   AND   LEGEND 

Castor,  albeit  slightly  inferior  in  luster,  is  much  more 
interesting  than  his  twin  brother,  being  one  of  the 
most  magnificent  double  stars  which  the  telescope  has 
revealed.  The  components,  nearly  equal  in  brightness, 
are  circling  about  each  other  in  orbits  so  extended  and 
with  motion  so  stately,  that  a  single  revolution  will 
occupy  nearly  a  thousand  years. 


CANCER,   THE   CRAB 

I  was  born,  sir,  when  the  Crab  was  ascending,  and  my  affairs  go 
backward.  —  CONGREVK. 

CANCER  is  the  most  inconspicuous  of  all  the  zodiacal 
constellations,  yet  none  probably  has  been  the  subject 
of  more  attention.  As  the  sign  which  marks  the 
northern  tropic,  where  the  sun  stops  ascending  and 
begins  his  retrograde  movement,  it  is  fittingly  sym- 
bolized by  the  obliquely  crawling  crab.  Here  was 
located,  according  to  the  Chaldean  and  Platonic  phi- 
losophy, "  the  gate  of  men,"  by  which  souls  were  sup- 
posed to  descend  into  human  bodies ;  Capricorn,  the 
corresponding  sign  marking  the  southern  tropic,  being 
"  the  gate  of  the  gods,"  through  which  the  souls 
released  at  death  returned  to  heaven. 

Mythology  recounts  that  Juno  sent  this  crab  to  annoy 
Hercules  by  pinching  his  toes,  when  he  was  contending 
with  the  many-headed  hydra  of  the  Lernaean  swamp. 
Hercules  having  easily  crushed  the  creature  with  a  single 
blow,  Juno,  by  way  of  reward,  placed  it  in  the  sky. 

43 


44 

This  constellation  contains  the  celebrated  cluster 
Praesepe,  or  the  Manger,  the  two  stars  lying  one  on 
either  side  being  the  asses.  Since  it  is  at  best  but  a 
faint  object,  the  slightest  condensation  of  vapor  in  the 
atmosphere  naturally  hides  it  from  view.  Hence  its 
dimness  was  regarded  by  the  ancients  as  an  infallible 
sign  of  coming  storm.  Aratus,  who,  besides  his  astro- 
nomical poem,  wrote  another  on  weather  prognostics, 
gives  the  following  rules : 

A  murky  manger  with  both  stars 

Shining  unaltered,  is  a  sign  of  rain. 

If  while  the  northern  ass  is  dimmed 

By  vaporous  shroud,  he  of  the  south  gleam  radiant, 

Expect  a  south  wind :   the  vaporous  shroud  and  radiance 

Exchanging  stars,  harbinger  Boreas." 

Popularly  this  cluster  is  often  called  the  beehive. 


LEO,   THE   LION 

The  lion  huge,  whose  tawny  hide 
And  grinning  jaws  extended  wide, 
He  o'er  his  shoulders  threw. 

WOODHULL —  Translation  from  Euripides. 

LEO  represents  the  Nemaean  lion,  the  fight  with 
which  formed  the  first  of  the  celebrated  labors  of 
Hercules.  It  was  also  considered  an  emblem  of  heat, 
being  the  fiery  trigon  of  the  Arabs  ;  and  throughout 
antiquity  it  has  held  a  close  relationship  with  the  sun. 
To  the  Egyptians  especially  was  it  sacred,  because  the 
sun's  entrance  into  the  sign  coincided  with  the  Nile 
rise.  The  Sphinx,  sculptured  with  the  lion's  body  and 
virgin's  head,  is  thought  to  have  symbolized  Leo  and 
the  neighboring  Virgo,  through  which  the  sun  passed 
during  the  continuance  of  the  inundation. 

The  constellation  is  marked  by  the  well-known 
sickle.  Regulus  in  the  end  of  the  handle  has  ever 
been  the  "  star  royal,"  its  name  being  the  diminutive 
of  the  Latin  rex.  Ptolemy  seems  first  to  have  used  this 
title,  but  far  back  in  ancient  Persia  our  star  was  the 

45 


46     THE  STAES  IN  SONG  AND  LEGEND 

leader  of  the  four  royal  guardians  of  heaven,  each 
ruling  over  a  quarter  of  the  sphere.  Cor  Leonis,  the 
lion's  heart,  was  another  popular  title  of  the  star. 
The  impression  of  greatness  and  power  connected  with 
it  was  universal,  and  was  carried  over  into  astrology, 
glory,  riches,  and  might  being  the  inheritance  of  all 
born  under  its  potent  influence. 

Considerably  to  the  eastward  of  the  sickle  is  Dene- 
bola,  marking  the  lion's  tail.  This  star  forms  with 
Arcturus  and  Spica  an  equilateral  triangle,  and  by 
taking  in  Cor  Caroli  on  the  north  we  have  the  so-called 
diamond  of  Virgo.  The  tracing  of  these  large  figures 
on  the  sky  is  a  great  help  towards  locating  and  remem- 
bering the  different  constellations. 


VIRGO,   THE   VIRGIN 

I  am  the  Virgin,  and  my  vestal  flame 

Burns  less  intensely  than  the  Lion's  rage ; 

Sheaves  are  my  only  garments,  and  I  claim 
A  golden  harvest  as  my  heritage. 

LONGFELLOW  —  Poefs  Calendar,  August. 

VIRGO  has  been  universally  the  virgin,  and  generally 
the  goddess  of  harvest  holding  a  wheat-ear  in  her 
hand.  In  classic  times  she  was  interchangeably  either 
Ceres  or  her  daughter  Proserpine.  In  the  springtime 
Proserpine,  playing  among  the  flowers,  is  seized  by 
Pluto  and  carried  off  to  the  lower  regions  to  be  his 
wife.  Ceres,  her  mother,  vainly  seeks  her  up  and 
down  the  earth.  At  length,  having  learned  her  sad 
fate  from  Arethusa,  the  nymph  of  the  fountain,  she 
beseeches  Jupiter  to  intercede,  and  Proserpine  is  allowed 
to  return  at  intervals,  spending  half  her  time  with  her 
mother,  and  the  rest  with  her  husband  Pluto.  There 
can  be  little  doubt  that  this  legend  is  allegorical, 
Proserpine  representing  the  seed,  which  is  buried  in 

47 


48     THE  STARS  IN  SONG  AND  LEGEND 

the  earth,  but  after  a  time  comes  forth  to  the  light  of 
day  in  a  glad  and  bountiful  harvest. 

Aratus  in  his  astronomical  poem,  however,  makes 
this  constellation  Astraea  the  goddess  of  justice  and 
purity.  During  the  golden  age  of  innocence  and 
happiness  she  dwelt  perpetually  with  men.  When 
the  world  began  to  degenerate,  and  the  silver  age 
dawned,  she  took  up  her  abode  in  heaven,  but  returned 
at  eventide  to  visit  those  who  yet  cared  for  her.  But 
at  last  came  the  brazen  age  with  war  and  violence  ; 
and  then  this  fair  goddess  hid  her  face  from  men  and 
left  the  world  to  famine,  pestilence,  and  misery. 

The  bright  star  Spica  indicates  the  wheat-ear  which 
Virgo  holds  in  her  left  hand.  By  the  Arabs  it  was 
called  the  solitary  or  defenseless  one,  a  title  which 
refers,  doubtless,  to  its  lone  position  on  the  sky,  there 
being  no  other  conspicuous  star  near  it.  Vindemiatrix, 
lying  some  distance  to  the  north,  though  now  but  a 
third  magnitude  star,  would  seem  from  the  great 
attention  paid  to  it  to  have  been  brighter  in  past  ages. 
The  name  means  "  grape  gatherer,"  and  its  heliacal 
rising  was  formerly  the  herald  of  the  vintage  time. 

Virgo  is  the  largest  of  all  the  zodiacal  constellations. 
This  region  of  the  sky,  while  comparatively  starless,  is 


VIRGO,  THE   VIRGIN  49 

especially  remarkable  for  the  extraordinary  number  of 
nebulse  that  here  congregate.  No  other  equal  area 
of  the  heavens  is  nearly  so  rich  in  these  mysterious 
objects.  Sir  John  Herschel  first  called  attention  to 
the  significant  fact  that  the  gaseous  nebulae  seem  to 
crowd  towards  those  portions  of  the  sky  most  remote 
from  the  Milky  Way.  This  mass,  gathered  together 
in  Virgo  and  Coma  Berenices,  he  likens  to  "  a  canopy 
which,  taking  the  circle  of  the  Milky  Way  as  a  horizon, 
occupies  the  zenith  and  descends  thence  to  a  consider- 
able distance  on  all  sides." 


LIBRA,  THE   SCALES 

I  bear  the  scales,  when  hang  in  equipoise 
The  night  and  day. 

LONGFELLOW — Poet's  Calendar,  September. 

LIBRA  in  classic  days  marked  the  autumnal  equinox, 
though  now,  owing  to  precession,  Virgo  occupies  that 
position.  In  all  the  round  of  the  zodiac  this  constella- 
tion alone  represents  an  inanimate  object ;  and  its 
antiquity,  though  somewhat  in  dispute,  does  not  seem 
to  be  very  great.  Certain  it  is  that  the  Greeks  asso- 
ciated its  stars  with  the  claws  of  the  Scorpion  which 
follows  to  the  east.  Scorpio,  indeed,  seems  to  have 
been  considered  a  double  sign,  thus  completing  the 
twelve. 

Among  the  Romans,  however,  we  find  the  title  Libra 
commonly  employed.  Virgil,  in  his  first  Georgic, 
natters  Augustus  by  representing  the  Scorpion  as  con- 
tracting his  claws  to  make  room  for  the  soul  of  the 
emperor  to  rest  after  death  in  his  natal  sign,  the  sun 
having  occupied  this  position  at  his  birth.  The  scales 

60 


LIBEA,  THE   SCALES  51 

might,  in  this  connection,  be  regarded  as  the  appro- 
priate insignia  for  the  dispenser  of  justice  to  the  world. 
Milton  suggests  another  origin  : 

The  Eternal,  to  prevent  such  horrid  fray, 

Hung  forth  in  heaven  his  golden  scales,  yet  seen 

Betwixt  Astrsea  and  the  Scorpion  sign; 

Astraga  being,  as  we  have  seen,  one  of  the  designa- 
tions of  Virgo.  The  constellation  is  comparatively 
faint,  but  may  be  readily  located  from  its  position 
with  reference  to  Scorpio. 


SCORPIO,  THE   SCORPION 

Though  on  the  frigid  scorpion  I  ride, 

The  dreamy  air  is  full,  and  overflows 
With  tender  memories  of  the  summer-tide 

And  mingled  voices  of  the  doves  and  crows. 

LONGFELLOW  —  Poet's  Calendar,  October. 

SCORPIO  was  the  mythological  monster  which  caused 
the  disastrous  runaway  of  the  steeds  of  Phoebus  Apollo. 
Phaethon,  it  would  seem,  desiring  to  prove  his  sonship, 
demanded  of  his  father  that  he  be  allowed  to  drive  for 
one  day  the  chariot  of  the  sun.  After  vainly  expostu- 
lating, Phcebus  granted  his  request  and  the  horses  were 
harnessed.  Up  the  steep  way  they  mount,  and  finding 
inexperienced  hands  upon  the  reins,  the  steeds  dash  oft' 
from  the  traveled  road  and  rush  headlong  through  the 
constellations.  But  when  they  come  to  where  the 
Scorpion  stretches  out  its  long  arms  shod  with  huge 
and  threatening  claws,  and  its  immense  tail  ending  in 
a  horrid  sting,  then  Phaethon,  pale  with  terror,  loses 
all  control  and  throws  down  the  reins ;  while  the 
horses  plunge  wildly,  hurling  the  chariot  over  trackless 

52 


SCORPIO,  THE   SCOKPION  53 

wastes,  now  up  in  high  heaven  until  the  gods  are 
scorched  with  the  heat,  and  now  down  close  to  the 
world  until  the  clouds  go  up  in  vapor  and  the  moun- 
tains begin  to  smoke.  At  length  Jupiter,  aroused  to 
action  by  the  imminent  peril,  launches  a  thunderbolt 
which  hurls  the  ambitious  youth  from  his  chariot  and 
plunges  him  into  the  great  sky-river  Eridanus. 

Scorpio  cannot  well  be  mistaken  because  of  the  fiery 
Antares  which  marks  the  creature's  heart.  Its  title 
signifies  in  the  Greek  "  the  rival  of  Mars,"  this  being, 
in  fact,  the  only  star  in  all  the  sky  that  could  be 
mistaken  for  the  red  god  of  war. 

Antares  is  interesting  telescopically,  not  only  for  its 
red  color,  but  more  especially  on  account  of  the  small 
green  companion  which  lies  so  close  as  to  be  involved 
in  the  flaming  rays  of  the  larger  star.  Not  far  to  the 
northwest  of  this  fine  double  is  a  comet-like  cluster, 
which  Herschel  describes  as  "the  richest  and  most 
condensed  mass  of  stars  in  the  firmament."  Renewed 
interest  in  it  was  excited  by  the  blazing  out  in  1860  of 
a  new  star  right  in  the  center  of  the  group.  The 
appearance,  to  use  Miss  Clerke's  striking  simile,  was 
that  of  a  triton  invading  a  shoal  of  minnows. 


SAGITTARIUS,  THE   ARCHER 

The  centaur,  Sagittarius,  am  I, 

Born  of  Ixion  and  the  cloud's  embrace  : 

With  sounding  hoofs  across  the  earth  I  fly, 
A  steed  Thessalian  with  a  human  face. 

LONGFELLOW  —  PoeVs  Calendar,  November. 

SAGITTARIUS  is  the  patron  of  the  hunter  and  the 
chase.  In  the  time  of  Eratosthenes  it  was  figured  as 
a  satyr,  but  afterwards  was  changed  to  a  centaur,  not, 
however,  to  be  confounded  with  the  larger  Centaurus 
far  to  the  south.  These  centaurs,  or  bull-killers,  as 
the  word  signifies,  were  an  ancient  race  inhabiting 
Mount  Pelion  in  Thessaly.  Homer  called  them  savage 
beasts,  but  in  later  times  they  were  represented  as  half 
man  and  half  horse.  The  Thessalians  being  famous 
riders,  and  hunting  the  bull  on  horseback,  a  national 
sport,  we  can  readily  understand  how  the  fable  arose. 

Forming  the  western  portion  of  this  constellation 
is  the  familiar  milk  dipper.  According  to  Allen  it  is 
extremely  ancient,  having  been  "  an  object  of  worship 
in  China  for  a  thousand  years  before  our  era." 

54 


CAPRICORNUS,  THE   GOAT 

Then  grievous  blasts 
Break  southward  on  the  sea,  when  coincide 

The  Goat  and  sun,  and  then  a  heaven-sent  cold. 

ARATCS. 

CAPRICORNUS  marked  in  classic  times  the  winter 
solstice.  It  occupied,  therefore,  the  most  southern  or 
lowest  part  of  the  zodiac.  Milton's  lines  allude  to  this : 

Some  say  the  sun 
Was  bid  turn  reins  from  the  equinoctial  road 

Up  to  the  tropic  Crab;   thence  down  amain, 
By  Leo  and  the  Virgin  and  the  Scales, 
As  deep  as  Capricorn,  to  bring  in  change 
Of  seasons  to  each  clime. 

One  ancient  writer  suggests  that,  as  the  sun  here 
begins  his  ascent  in  the  heavens,  the  goat  is  a  fitting 
symbol  from  its  propensity  to  scale  the  inaccessible 
mountain  sides.  As  usually  depicted,  however,  Capri- 
cornus  is  a  sea-goat,  having  the  head  and  body  of  a 
goat,  but  the  tail  of  a  fish.  It  is  thus  represented  on 
our  modern  star  maps. 


56  THE   STARS    IX    SONG   AND   LEGEND 

Naturally  we  find  this  constellation  associated  with 
the  god  Pan,  who  was  also  part  goat.  The  legend  goes 
that  when  the  gods  were  driven  from  Olympus  by  the 
giants  and  took  refuge  in  Egypt,  disguising  themselves 
variously  as  animals,  Pan  took  the  form  of  a  goat. 
When  Typhon,  the  fire-breathing  monster,  suddenly 
attacked  him,  he  leaped  in  a  fright  into  the  Nile  and 
became  amphibious. 

Capricornus  contains  one  of  the  few  notable  naked- 
eye  doubles.  This  is  the  principal  star  lying  at  the 
base  of  the  horns.  Its  duplicity  is  now  obvious  to  the 
most  casual  observer,  but  two  thousand  years  ago  it 
would  have  required  a  sharp  eye  to  distinguish  the 
components.  They  are  separating  at  the  rate  of  one 
minute  of  arc  in  about  thirteen  hundred  years,  their 
present  distance  being  six  minutes. 


AQUARIUS,  THE   WATER-BEARER 

The  sun  his  locks  beneath  Aquarius  tempers, 
And  now  the  nights  draw  near  to  half  the  day. 

LONGFELLOW —  Translation  of  Dante. 

AQUARIUS  is  the  almost  universal  designation  of  the 
next  zodiacal  constellation.  Its  watery  character  has 
been  attributed  to  the  fact  that  the  sun  passes  through 
it  during  the  rainy  season.  Many  of  the  constellations 
in  this  neighborhood,  in  fact,  are  aquatic,  there  being, 
besides  Capricornus  and  Aquarius,  the  Dolphin,  three 
fishes,  and  Cetus,  the  Whale ;  so  that  naturally  enough 
we  find  this  part  of  the  sky  designated  by  the  Chaldeans 
as  the  sea. 

The  river  Eridanus  also  is  sometimes  shown  as  hav- 
ing its  source  in  the  Waterman's  bucket,  —  a  most 
unaccountable  circumstance,  unless,  like  the  widow's 
barrel  of  meal  and  cruse  of  oil  in  the  days  of  Elijah, 
it  never  runs  dry.  Manilius  did  indeed  assert  as  much 
in  describing  the  constellation  ;  for  he  says,  "  And  so 
the  urn  flows  on,"  an  expression  which  became  pro- 
verbial for  a  ceaseless  babble  of  tongues. 

57 


PISCES,   THE   FISHES 

Sunset  and  evening  star. 

TENNYSON —  Crossing  the  Bar. 

THE  zodiacal  constellation  Pisces  consists  of  two 
fishes,  quite  widely  separated,  but  having  their  tails 
connected  by  a  ribbon.  There  is,  besides,  another 
south  of  Aquarius  distinguished  as  the  Southern  Fish, 
and  marked  by  the  bright  star  Fomalhaut. 

The  two  finny  inhabitants  of  the  zodiac  are  compara- 
tively starless,  and  of  little  interest  aside  from  their 
mythological  connection  with  Aphrodite  or  Venus.  That 
goddess,  frightened  by  the  giant  Typhon,  threw  herself 
with  the  infant  Cupid  into  the  Euphrates.  One  account 
says  that  the  fishes  bore  them  away  to  safety,  but  the 
Greek  legend  changed  them  into  fishes  which  were  after- 
ward exalted  to  the  sky.  Hence  this  constellation  was 
popularly  known  as  "  Venus  and  Cupid."  A  few  words, 
then,  concerning  the  brightest  and  most  beautiful  of  all 
the  starry  host  may  here  be  appropriately  added. 

Venus.  —  The  coy  character  of  the  goddess  who  was 
fabled  to  have  sprung  from  the  sea  foam  is  fittingly 

58 


PISCES,  THE   FISHES  59 

symbolized  by  her  representative  in  the  sky.  Now 
bursting  out  in  a  blaze  of  beauty  that  dazzles  the 
admiring  world,  now  swiftly  retreating  and  vanishing 
in  the  sunset's  glare,  then  shyly  peeping  forth  in  the 
east  before  the  world  wakes,  she  is  as  fickle  and  incon- 
stant as  the  most  incorrigible  flirt  that  ever  queened  it 
over  her  unfortunate  lovers.  Yet  even  this  capricious 
beauty  owns  allegiance  to  her  lord  the  sun,  and  held 
by  indissoluble  bonds,  continually  follows  and  attends 
upon  his  glorious  majesty. 

Although  the  title  is  sometimes  given  to  other 
planets,  Venus  is  preeminently  the  evening  and  the 
morning  star.  Its  identity  in  the  two  positions  must 
certainly  have  been  known  from  early  ages,  yet  it  was 
frequently  designated  by  different  names  when  respec- 
tively east  and  west  of  the  sun.  Thus  the  Greeks 
called  it  Hesperus  as  evening  star  and  Phosphorus  as 
morning  star.  These  names  will  recall  Tennyson's 
lines  in  his  In  Memoriam: 

Sad  Hesper  o'er  the  buried  sun, 
And  ready,  thou,  to  die  with  him; 
Thou  watchest  all  things  ever  dim 
And  dimmer,  and  a  glory  done. 


60     THE  STARS  IN  SONG  AND  LEGEND 

Bright  Phosphor,  fresher  for  the  night, 
By  thee  the  world's  great  work  is  heard 
Beginning,  and  the  wakeful  bird ; 
Behind  thee  comes  the  greater  light. 

Sweet  Hesper-Phosphor,  double  name 
For  what  is  one,  the  first,  the  last, 
Thou,  like  my  present  and  my  past, 
Thy  place  is  changed,  thou  art  the  same. 


URSA  MAJOR,  THE  GREAT  BEAR 

One  after  one  the  stars  have  risen  and  set, 
Sparkling  upon  the  hoar-frost  of  my  chain ; 
The  Bear  that  prowled  all  night  about  the  fold 
Of  the  North-star  hath  shrunk  into  his  den, 
Scared  by  the  blithesome  footsteps  of  the  Dawn. 

LOWELL  —  Prometheus. 

Tins  constellation,  though  in  no  way  resembling  that 
animal,  has  in  all  ages  and  among  nearly  all  peoples 
been  the  Bear.  Homer  speaks  of  it  as  keeping  a  watch 
upon  Orion  from  its  arctic  den,  and  references  to  it 
abound  alike  in  classic  and  modern  literature. 

Mythology.  —  Mythology  recognized  in  this  star  group 
the  beautiful  Callisto,  who,  having  unfortunately  excited 
the  jealousy  of  Juno,  was  changed  by  the  angry  goddess 
into  a  bear.  Wandering  in  this  sad  plight  through  the 
woods,  she  met  her  own  son  Areas,  and  was  about  to 
embrace  him,  when  he  in  alarm  raised  his  hunting 
spear  to  strike  her.  Jupiter,  however,  took  pity  on 
them,  and  prevented  the  crime  by  snatching  both  up 
to  the  sky,  where  they  became  the  Great  and  the 

61 


62  THE    STARS   IN   SONG   ASD  "LEGEND 

Little  Bears.  Juno,  still  further  enraged  at  the  honor 
thus  done  them,  instigated  Oceanus  and  Tethys  to 
forbid  the  creatures'  approach  to  their  watery  domain. 
In  virtue  of  this  prohibition  they  wander  round  and 
round  the  pole  but  never  venture  to  dip  their  huge 
bodies  beneath  the  horizon.  As  Bryant  well  ex- 
presses it, 

The  Bear,  that  sees  star  setting  after  star 
In  the  blue  brine,  descends  not  to  the  deep. 

As  we  approach  the  equator,  of  course,  this  condi- 
tion no  longer  holds,  and  the  constellations  which  are 
circumpolar  in  our  latitude  begin  to  rise  and  set.  Thus 
Camoens,  the  Portuguese  poet,  wrote : 

We  saw  the  Bears,  despite  of  Juno,  lave 
Their  tardy  bodies  in  the  boreal  wave. 

Reference  in  Job.  -  -  That  it  is  this  group  of  stars,  and 
not  Arcturus,  the  leading  brilliant  in  Bootes,  which 
is  referred  to  in  Job's  question,  ({ Canst  thou  guide 
Arcturus  with  his  sons  ? "  seems  tolerably  certain. 
Indeed,  the  passage  as  translated  in  the  revised  version 
reads,  "  Canst  thou  guide  the  Bear  with  her  train  ?  " 
This  figuring  of  the  stars  as  a  she-bear  attended  by  her 
young  avoids  the  sadly  unnatural  representation  of  our 


URSA  MAJOR,  THE  GREAT  BEAR      63 

modern  maps  which  furnish  a  comparatively  tailless 
animal  with  a  most  notable  caudal  appendage. 

Indian  Legend.  —  Our  North  American  Indians  saw 
here  also  a  bear,  but  the  stars  of  the  tail  were  for  them 
the  hunter  and  his  dogs.  Mr.  Allen  tells  us  that  "  the 
Housatonic  Indians,  who  roamed  over  that  valley  from 
Pittsfield  through  Lenox  and  Stockbridge  to  Great  Bar- 
rington,  had  a  story  that  the  chase  of  the  stellar  bear 
lasted  from  spring  till  the  autumn,  when  the  animal 
was  wounded  and  its  blood  plainly  seen  on  the  crimson 
foliage  of  the  forest." 

Other  Names.  — While,  as  we  have  seen,  the  more 
formal  title  of  this  constellation  has  almost  universally 
been  the  Bear,  yet  various  other  appellations,  based  on 
real  or  fancied  resemblances,  have  also  been  very  widely 
prevalent.  Homer,  for  instance,  refers  to  "  the  Bear, 
which  oft  the  Wain  they  call,"  showing  that  even  at 
that  early  period  the  popular  imagination  had  found  in 
its  seven  stars  the  likeness  to  some  huge  celestial  cart 
lumbering  nightly  about  the  pole.  Among  the  Romans 
it  was  frequently  the  Plow,  usually  drawn  by  three 
oxen  represented  by  the  stars  in  the  tail ;  but  Cicero 
speaks  of  Septem-  or  Septentriones,  the  Seven  Plow- 
oxen.  We  thus  have  two  terms  derived  from  this 


64  THE   STARS   IN   SONG   AND   LEGEND 

constellation  denoting  the  frigid  characteristics  of  the 
northern  regions,  —  arctic,  from  the  Greek  word  for 
bear ;  and  septentrion,  from  the  plow-oxen. 

The  Plow  is  still  a  common  title  in  England,  but 
hardly  so  popular  as  the  older  Homeric  appellation,  the 
Wain.  In  early  English  days  it  seems  to  have  been 
Arthur's  Wain  ;  and  Smyth,  deriving  the  name  from 
the  Welsh  Arth,  a  bear,  finds  in  the  circling  of 
this  constellation  about  the  pole  the  possible  origin 
of  King  Arthur's  famous  Round  Table.  Afterwards  it 
became  Charles'  Wain,  originally  perhaps  in  honor  of 
Charlemagne  (Charles  the  Great),  though  later,  of 
course,  associated  with  the  English  kings  of  the  same 
name. 

Use  as  a  Timepiece.  —  From  the  circumstance  that  to 
northern  peoples  these  stars  are  visible  throughout  the 
year,  they  have  naturally  served  the  rustic  population 
as  timepieces,  indicating  the  progress  of  the  night  by 
their  slow  revolving  motion.  Shakespeare  in  Kimj 
Henry  IV  makes  the  carrier  in  the  Rochester  Inn 
yard  exclaim,  "  Heigh-ho !  An 't  be  not  four  by  the 
day,  I  '11  be  hanged  :  Charles'  Wain  is  over  the  new 
chimney,  and  yet  our  horse  not  packed."  Spenser 
in  the  Faerie  Queene  has  a  similar  allusion : 


UESA  MAJOR,  THE  GREAT  BEAR      65 

By  this  the  northern  wagoner  had  set 

His  sevenfold  teme  behind  the  steadfast  starre ; 

and  likewise  Tennyson  in  his  well-known  New  Years 

Eve: 

We  danced  about  the  may -pole  and  in  the  hazel  copse, 

Till  Charles'  Wain  came  out  above  the  tall  white  chimney-tops. 

I  need  hardly  refer  to  the  extremely  popular  modern 
name  of  this  group,  the  Great  Dipper.  In  springtime 
it  runs  high  up  overhead  in  the  evening,  and  appears 
upside  down  ;  while  in  the  fall  and  early  winter  it 
seems  to  be  resting  upon  the  horizon  in  an  upright 
position.  Perhaps  B.  F.  Taylor  had  this  in  mind  when 
he  wrote  in  his  World  on  Wheels: 

From  that  celestial  dipper,  —  or  so  I  thought,  —  the  dews 
were  poured  out  gently  upon  the  summer  world. 

The  middle  star  in  the  handle  of  this  dipper  is  the 
well-known  naked-eye  double  formed  by  Mizar  and 
Alcor.  They  are  popularly  called  "  the  horse  and  his 
rider,"  or  "Jack  on  the  middle  horse,"  referring  to  the 
idea  of  the  three  horses  dragging  the  wain  or  plow.  A 
similar  conceit  prevails  in  Germany,  where  Alcor  repre- 
sents Hans  the  wagoner,  who,  as  a  reward  for  assisting 
the  Saviour  when  weary,  was  offered  the  kingdom  of 


66  THE   STAES   IN   SONG   AND   LEGEND 

heaven ;  but  modestly  deeming  himself  unsuited  to 
enjoy  such  a  royal  gift,  he  besought  that  instead  he  be 
permitted  to  drive  this  celestial  team,  and  may  accord- 
ingly be  seen  mounted  upon  the  highest  horse. 

In  Italy  also  Alcor  was  known  as  the  Little  Starry 
Horseman;  but  the  Greeks  identified  it  as  the  lost 
Pleiad  Electra,  who  had  wandered  away  from  her 
companions  and  been  changed  into  a  fox. 


URSA   MINOR,   THE   LITTLE   BEAR 

Visit  us 

With  thy  long  leveled  rule  of  streaming  light, 
And  thou  ahalt  be  our  star  of  Arcady, 

Or  Tyrian  Cynosure. 

MILTON  —  Comus. 

Cynosure.  —  The  Little  Bear  is  less  ancient  in  its  con- 
stellated form  than  the  Great  Bear.  It  seems  to  have 
originated  with  the  Phoenicians,  who  were  great  sea- 
faring people,  and  naturally  made  use  of  this  group, 
which  for  several  millenniums  has  occupied  the  immedi- 
ate region  of  the  celestial  pole.  It  was,  however,  early 
adopted  by  the  Greeks,  by  whom  it  was  designated 
Cynosure  or  Dog's  Tail.  Great  difficulty  has  been 
experienced  in  trying  to  account  for  this  title,  since  the 
dog  is  not  usually  mentioned  in  connection  with  the 
legend  of  Callisto  and  Areas.  Some  authorities  have 
attempted  to  trace  the  word  to  a  much  earlier  source 
in  the  Euphrates  valley. 

However  this  may  be,  the  appellation,  which  in 
modern  times  is  generally  restricted  to  the  pole-star 
alone,  has  always  been  very  popular,  and  even  appeared 

67 


68  THE   STARS    IX    SONG   AND   LEGEND 

in  scientific  treatises  of  two  and  three  centuries  ago. 
It  has  also  sometimes  been  called  the  Little  Wain  or 
Chariot ;  thus  Tennyson  in  In  Memoriam  says  : 

The  lesser  wain 
Is  twisting  round  the  polar  star. 

Tramontana,  Mountain  of  the  North.  —  Another  name, 
Tramontana  or  Transmontane,  that  is,  above  or  beyond 
the  mountain,  given  in  medieval  times  indiscriminately 
to  the  constellation  and  its  principal  star,  suggests  a 
most  curious  and  persistent  legend  respecting  the 
"mountain  of  the  north."  Professor  Sayce  finds  traces 
of  this  in  the  early  Sumerian  days,  when  "  the  heaven 
was  believed  to  rest  on  the  peak  of  '  the  mountain  of 
the  world '  in  the  far  northeast,  where  the  gods  had 
their  habitations."  In  classic  times  the  Hyperboreans 
wefe  thought  to  dwell  beyond  its  lofty  peak  in  a  clime 
of  perpetual  spring,  as  Moore  sings : 

I  come  from  a  land  in  the  sun-bright  deep, 

Where  golden  gardens  glow, 
"Where  the  winds  of  the  north,  becalmed  in  sleep, 

Their  conch  shells  never  blow. 

The  sacred  writers  were  evidently  familiar  with  the 
story  of  this  fabulous  mountain.  Isaiah  writes  of  it : 


URSA   MINOR,  THE   LITTLE   BEAR  69 

"  How  art  thou  fallen  from  heaven,  0  Lucifer  !  For 
thou  hast  said  in  thine  heart,  I  will  ascend  into  heaven  ; 
I  will  exalt  my  throne  above  the  stars  of  God  ;  I  will 
sit  also  upon  the  mount  of  the  congregation  in  the  sides 
of  the  north.'''  And  the  Psalmist  likens  Mount  Zion  to 
it :  "  Beautiful  for  situation,  the  joy  of  the  whole  earth, 
is  Mount  Zion,  in  the  sides  of  the  north,  the  city  of  the 
great  King." 

The  Hindus  called  it  Mount  Meru,  "the  seat  of 
the  gods  " ;  and  in  Norse  mythology  we  find  the  same 
"  Hill  of  heaven."  Its  existence  seems  to  have  been 
believed  in  as  late  as  the  seventeenth  century,  for  in 
Chilmead's  work  we  read  of  "  the  mountaine  Slotus, 
which  lies  under  the  pole,  and  is  the  highest  in 
the  world."  Poe  also  in  Ulalume  fancifully  refers 
to  "  Mount  Yaanek,  in  the  realms  of  the  boreal 
pole." 

The  Pole-Star.  —  The  pole-star,  forming  the  point 
around  which  this  constellation  swings,  is  naturally 
from  its  apparent  fixity  the  most  familiar  and  oft- 
mentioned  of  all  the  stars.  Christina  Rossetti  sings 
of  it: 

One  unchangeable  upon  a  throne 

Broods  o'er  the  frozen  heart  of  earth  alone. 


70     THE  STARS  IN  SONG  AND  LEGEND 

Shakespeare  in  Julius  Caesar  makes  him  say : 

But  I  am  constant  as  the  northern  star, 

Of  whose  true-fixed  and  resting  quality 

There  is  no  fellow  in  the  firmament. 

The  skies  are  painted  with  unnumbered  sparks  ; 

They  are  all  fire,  and  every  one  doth  shine : 

But  there  's  but  one  in  all  doth  hold  his  place. 

Bryant  in  his  fine  Hymn  to  the  North  Star  thus 
apostrophizes  it : 

The  sad  and  solemn  night 
Hath  yet  her  multitude  of  cheerful  fires ; 

The  glorious  host  of  light 
Walk  the  dark  hemisphere  till  she  retires; 
All  through  her  silent  watches,  gliding  slow, 
Her  constellations  come,  and  climb  the  heavens,  and  go. 

And  thou  dost  see  them  rise, 
Star  of  the  Pole !     And  thou  dost  see  them  set. 

Alone  in  thy  cold  skies, 
Thou  keep'st  thy  old  unmoving  station  yet, 
Nor  join'st  the  dances  of  that  glittering  train, 
Nor  dipp'st  thy  virgin  orb  in  the  blue  western  main. 

It  has  been  for  many  centuries,  and  will  be  for  as 
many  more  to  come,  preeminently  the  Stella  Marts, 
the  seaman's  star.  Dryden  wrote  of  the  infancy  of 
navigation : 


URSA   MINOR,  THE   LITTLE   BEAR  71 

Rude  as  their  ships  were  navigated  then, 
No  useful  compass  or  meridian  known ; 
Coasting,  they  kept  the  land  within  their  ken, 
And  knew  no  north  but  when  the  Pole-star  shone. 

Moore  also  in  Lalla  Rookh  sings  of  Nourmahal : 

Thou  loveliest,  dearest  of  them  all, 
The  one  whose  smile  shone  out  alone, 
Amidst  a  world  the  only  one ! 
Whose  light,  among  so  many  lights, 
Was  like  that  star,  on  starry  nights, 
The  seaman  singles  from  the  sky 
To  steer  his  bark  forever  by. 

So  it  came  to  be  called  the  lode-star,  leading  or  guid- 
ing the  mariner ;  and  to  quote  once  more  Bryant's 
Hymn : 

A  beauteous  type  of  that  unchanging  good, 

That  bright  eternal  beacon,  by  whose  ray 

The  voyager  of  time  should  shape  his  heedful  way. 


CEPHEUS  AND   CASSIOPEIA 

Or  that  starred  Ethiop  queen  that  strove 

To  set  her  beauty's  praise  above 

The  sea-nymphs,  and  their  powers  offended. 

MILTON  —  II  Penseroso. 

CEPHEUS  was  king  of  Ethiopia,  and  Cassiopeia  his 
beautiful  queen.  But  so  inordinate  was  her  vanity 
that  she  dared  compare  herself  with  the  sea-nymphs, 
who  were  greatly  enraged  and  sent  a  frightful  monster 
to  ravage  the  coast  of  the  kingdom.  On  appealing  to 
the  oracle,  the  unhappy  pair  were  told  that  the  only 
way  to  avert  the  disaster  would  be  to  chain  their 
daughter  Andromeda  to  a  rock  and  allow  the  leviathan 
to  devour  her.  How  she  was  rescued  by  the  gallant 
Perseus  will  appear  later. 

Cepheus  and  his  queen  are  side  by  side  upon  the  starry 
sphere,  opposite  the  Great  Bear.  Cepheus  is  an  incon- 
spicuous constellation,  but  Cassiopeia  is  marked  by  the 
well-known  celestial  W.  The  rude  resemblance  to  an 
armed  chair  may  also  be  made  out,  and  this  in  fact  has 
from  classic  days  been  the  common  mode  of  depicting 

72 


CEPHEUS   AND   CASSIOPEIA  73 

the  group,  the  queen  having  been  further  condemned, 
after  the  rescue  of  her  daughter,  to  be  bound  to  this 
chair  and  swung  round  and  round  the  pole,  in  order 
that  her  lesson  in  humility  might  be  complete. 

Tycho  Brahe's  New  Star. — It  was  in  Cassiopeia  that 
the  great  new  star  flamed  out  in  November,  1572, 
speedily  outshining  Venus  and  becoming  conspicuous 
in  full  daylight,  then  gradually  fading,  till  after  the 
lapse  of  sixteen  months  it  totally  vanished.  The  tele- 
scope, however,  shows  in  the  same  spot  a  faint  reddish 
star,  which  from  its  nebulous  appearance  and  unsteady 
light  is  generally  regarded  by  astronomers  as  the 
smouldering  embers  of  the  once  unrivaled  orb.  This 
brief  apparition  caused  great  alarm  throughout  Europe, 
many  considering  it  a  portent  of  the  end  of  the  world. 
Even  the  great  Beza,  falling  in  with  the  superstitions 
of  his  age,  attempted  to  prove  that  it  was  the  same 
star  which  had  conducted  the  wise  men  of  the  East  to 
Bethlehem  when  Christ  'was  born,  and  that  its  mission 
now  was  to  proclaim  his  second  coming. 


PERSEUS  AND   ANDROMEDA 

Perseus,  even  amid  the  stars,  must  take 
Andromeda  in  chains  ethereal. 

MRS.  BROWNING  —  Paraphrases  on  Nonnus. 

PERSEUS,  the  son  of  Jupiter  and  Danae,  might  be 
called  the  knight-errant  of  mythology.  His  earliest 
exploit  was  the  slaying  of  the  snaky-locked  Gorgon, 
Medusa.  Panoplied  with  Pluto's  helmet  of  invisibility 
and  with  Minerva's  polished  shield,  and  shod  with  Mer- 
cury's winged  shoes,  he  tracked  the  monster  to  her  sea- 
girt cave,  severed  her  horrid  head,  and  flew  away  in 
safety.  Coming  to  the  western  limit  of  the  world,  he 
found  old  Atlas,  who,  fearing  lest  he  be  robbed  of  his 
golden  apples,  refused  to  receive  the  youth ;  whereupon 
Perseus  held  up  the  Gorgon's  head  before  the  giant  and 
turned  him  into  stone.  There,  in  the  gardens  of  the 
Hesperides,  according  to  fable,  he  still  stands,  bearing 
the  weight  of  the  heavens  upon  his  shoulders. 

Perseus,  flying  once  more  through  the  air,  saw  far 
beneath  him  the  lovely  Andromeda  chained  to  the 
rocks,  and  the  slimy  sea-monster  approaching  to  devour 

74 


PERSEUS    AND   ANDROMEDA  75 

her.  After  a  desperate  struggle  he  succeeded  in  hack- 
ing the  dragon  in  pieces  and  rescuing  the  maiden.  At 
the  wedding  feast,  which  was  a  natural  sequence  to 
this  knightly  episode,  Phineus,  the  former  lover  of  the 
princess,  burst  in,  demanding  his  promised  bride  and 
threatening  to  take  her  by  force.  Perseus  reminded 
him  that  he  should  have  claimed  her  earlier  from  the 
jaws  of  the  horrid  monster,  but  that  now  it  was  too 
late ;  for,  since  he  had  failed  to  prove  himself  a  man, 
he  should  become  but  the  stone  image  of  one.  There- 
upon holding  up  the  Gorgon's  head  he  petrified  the 
coward  and  his  band  of  ruffians.  Then  the  marriage 
bells  pealed  merrily,  and  conflicts  were  forgotten  in 
happiness  and  peace.  At  their  death  this  noble  pair 
were  transferred  to  the  sky. 

Charles  Kingsley's  Andromeda,  after  most  beautifully 
telling  the  legend,  makes  Aphrodite  thus  address  the 
heroine : 

Courage  I  give  thee,  the   heart  of   a  queen  and  the  mind  of 

immortals, 
God-like   to   talk   with   the   gods,   and  to   look   on   their   eyes 

unshrinking. 

Bearing  a  god-like  race  to  thy  spouse,  till  dying  I  set  thee 
High  for  a  star  in  the  heavens,  a  sign  and  a  hope  for  the  seamen, 


76  THE    STARS   IN    SONG   AND   LEGEND 

Spreading  thy  long  white  arms  all  night  in  the  heights  of  the 

ether ; 
Hard  by  thy  sire  and  the  hero,  thy  spouse,  while  near  thee  thy 

mother 

Sits  in  her  ivory  chair,  as  she  plaits  ambrosial  tresses ; 
All  night  long  thou  wilt  shine. 

These  two  constellations  are  immediately  south  of 
Cassiopeia,  Perseus  being  directly  in  the  Milky  Wav, 
where,  according  to  Aratus,  he  is  stirring  up  a  dust  in 
his  haste  to  liberate  Andromeda.  He  still  bears  in  one 
hand  the  head  of  Medusa,  with  its  baleful,  blinking 
demon-eye,  Algol,  which  about  every  third  day  drops 
from  the  second  magnitude  to  the  fourth  and  recovers 
in  a  few  hours. 

Andromeda  contains  two  very  interesting  telescopic 
objects.  One  is  Almach,  which  Herschel  pronounced 
the  most  beautiful  double  star  in  the  heavens.  Its  com- 
ponents are  deep  yellow  and  sea-green,  producing  a  fine 
contrast  of  color.  The  other  is  the  great  nebula.  This 
is  the  only  true  nebula  which  can  be  certainly  discerned 
without  optical  aid,  being  known  to  the  Arabians  as 
"the  little  cloud."  Although  a  magnificent  spectacle 
in  the  telescope,  it  requires  photography  to  show  its 
marvelous  extent  and  involved  structure. 


AURIGA,   THE  CHARIOTEER 

Star  of  the  winter  night, 
Whose  chill  and  threatening  light 
O'er  the  tempestuous  main  shineth  afar ! 
Calm  days  of  autumn  bright 
Reluctant  take  their  flight, 

When  from  the  misty  deep  riseth  thy  car. 

ANON. 

PASSING  over  Draco,  coiled  about  the  pole  of  the 
ecliptic  and  representing  the  dragon  which  guarded  the 
golden  apples  in  the  gardens  of  the  Hesperides,we  come 
to  constellations  lying  somewhat  farther  south,  between 
the  circumpolar  groups  and  the  zodiac.  Southeast  of 
Perseus  is  the  widely  extended  Auriga,  or  Charioteer, 
though  the  name  ill  accords  with  the  time-honored 
pictorial  representation  of  a  man  carrying  in  his  arms 
the  goat  Capella  and  the  Kids,  or  Hsedi. 

This  chariot  driver  has  been  identified  with  Erech- 
theus,  the  son  of  Vulcan,  of  whom  Swinburne  has 
written : 

Thou  hast  loosened  the  necks  of  thine  horses,  and  goaded  their 

flanks  with  affright, 

77 


78  THE   STAKS   IN   SONG  AND   LEGEND 

To  the  race  of  a  course  that  we  know  not,  on  ways  that  are  hid 

from  our  sight. 
As  a  wind  through  the  darkness  the  wheels  of  their  chariot  are 

whirled, 
And  the  light  of  its  passage  is  night  on  the  face  of  the  world. 

The  bright  first  magnitude  Capella,  the  lucida  of  the 
constellation,  represents  the  goat  which  suckled  the 
infant  Jupiter.  According  to  one  tradition,  Amalthea 
herself  was  the  goat,  but  more  commonly  she  was  the 
nymph  who  fed  the  young  god  on  the  goat's  milk. 
Having  in  his  play  broken  off  one  of  the  horns  of  the 
animal,  Jupiter  endowed  it  with  the  miraculous  power 
of  being  filled  with  whatever  the  possessor  might  wish, 
whence  it  was  called  the  cornucopia  or  horn  of  plenty. 

The  three  small  stars  near  Capella  are  the  Kids,  though 
more  properly  perhaps  only  the  two  southern  ones  should 
be  so  denominated.  They  were  in  extremely  bad  repute 
with  the  ancients,  being  termed  by  the  classic  writers 
"  horrid  and  hurtful,"  and  Callimachus  in  the  third 
century  B.C.  counseled  mariners : 

Tempt  not  the  winds,  forewarned  of  dangers  nigh, 
When  the  Kids  glitter  in  the  western  sky. 

This  connection  of  individual  stars  or  constellations 
with  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  and  therefore  with 


#J 


- 


AURIGA,  THE   CHARIOTEER  79 

the  probability  of  pleasant  or  tempestuous  weather, 
was,  of  course,  at  best  but  local  and  temporary ;  for 
the  slow  precession  of  the  equinoxes,  by  gradually  shift- 
ing the  panoramic  scenery  of  the  skies,  will  in  the 
course  of  ages  make  these  same  stars  rulers  over 
different  seasons. 


COMA   BERENICES   (BERENICE'S   HAIR) 

The  streaming  tresses  of  the  Egyptian  queen. 

BRYANT  —  The  Constellations. 

JUST  north  of  Virgo  lies  a  group  of  faint  stars,  so 
crowded  together  that  they  present  a  nebulous  appear- 
ance like  a  wisp  of  hair,  or,  as  Serviss  suggests,  like 
"  gossamers  spangled  with  dewdrops,  which  the  old 
woman  of  the  nursery  rhyme,  who  went  to  sweep  the 
cobwebs  out  of  the  sky,"  had  overlooked. 

The  origin  of  this  constellation,  in  its  present  form 
at  least,  dates  back  to  the  reign  of  Ptolemy  Euergetes 
in  the  third  century  B.C.  As  the  king  was  departing 
on  a  dangerous  expedition  against  the  Assyrians,  his 
queen  Berenice  vowed,  should  he  return  in  safety,  to 
dedicate  her  lovely  amber  tresses  to  the  goddess  of 
beauty.  Accordingly  when  the  king  marched  home 
victorious,  the  hair  was  placed  in  the  temple  of  Aphro- 
dite, but  shortly  afterwards  was  stolen.  This  grieved 
the  royal  pair  exceedingly,  until  Conon,  the  court 
astronomer,  announced  that  Jupiter  had  taken  the 

80 


COMA   BERENICES   (BERENICE'S   HAIR)          81 

locks  and  hung  them  in  the  sky,  pointing  to  these 
stars  which,  it  would  seem,  had  up  to  that  time  been 
unrecorded. 

The  similarity  of  the  name  with  that  of  the  Herodian 
princess  Bernice  (in  the  Latin  Beronicd)  has  led  to  the 
association  of  this  star  group  with  the  legend  of  Saint 
Veronica,  who,  in  sympathy  for  the  Saviour's  sufferings 
on  the  way  to  the  cross,  lent  him  her  veil  to  wipe  the 
sweat  from  his  brow,  and  found  miraculously  impressed 
thereon  the  true  image  of  our  Lord. 

Not  far  from  Berenice's  Hair,  across  the  constellation 
Leo,  is  the  spot  where  the  Capuchin  De  Rheita  in  the 
seventeenth  century  fancied  he  saw,  with  an  improved 
telescope  of  his  own  construction,  this  same  veil  or 
napkin  bearing  the  likeness  of  the  divine  countenance. 
This  marvelous  apparition  is  described  in  all  serious- 
ness in  his  work  entitled  Oculus  Enoch  et  Elice,  but 
as  Sir  John  Herschel  appropriately  remarked,  "  Many 
strange  things  were  seen  among  the  stars  before  the 
use  of  powerful  telescopes  became  common." 


BOOTES,   THE   HERDSMAN 

Not  every  one  doth  it  become  to  question 
The  far-off,  high  Arcturus. 

SCHILLER  —  Death  of  Wallenstein. 

BOOTES  is  usually  translated  the  Herdsman,  though 
the  name  really  signifies  Ox  Driver,  a  much  more 
appropriate  title,  since  this  constellation  follows  the 
seven  plow-oxen  of  Ursa  Major  in  their  daily  course 
around  the  pole.  Our  modern  maps,  however,  follow 
the  suggestion  of  Hevelius,  a  Polish  astronomer  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  who  placed  the  two  hounds,  Aste- 
rion  and  Chara,  in  front  of  Bootes,  and  represented  him 
as  a  hunter  pursuing  the  Great  Bear. 

The  superb  lucida  of  the  group,  Arcturus,  was  so 
designated  by  the  Greeks,  the  name  meaning  Bear- 
guard.  Smyth  derives  it  from  the  similar  Greek  word 
for  tail,  making  it  signify  "  tail  of  the  Bear."  Although 
this  etymology  is  probably  incorrect,  yet  it  is  useful  to 
remember  that  Arcturus  lies  in  the  prolongation  of  the 
Bear's  tail  and  may  thus  be  surely  and  readily  identi- 
fied. The  biblical  references  to  Arcturus,  as  already 

82 


BOOTES,  THE   HERDSMAN  83 

noted,  indicate  Ursa  Major  rather  than  this  star,  the 
connection  between  the  two  names  in  the  Greek  lan- 
guage naturally  leading  to  frequent  confusion.  In 
early  days  it  represented  a  spear  in  the  hunter's  hand, 
and  with  the  Arabs  it  was  the  Lance-bearer,  as  Emer- 
son, translating  the  Persian  poet  Hafiz,  has  it : 

Poises  Arcturus  aloft  morning  and  evening  his  spear. 

From  the  fact  that  in  middle  latitudes  Arcturus  is 
setting  in  the  northwest  just  as  Capella  and  the  Kids 
are  rising  away  in  the  northeast,  the  stormy  character 
of  the  latter  has  been  transferred  also  to  this  star. 
Demosthenes  tells  of  an  insurance  policy  issued  on  a 
vessel  going  to  the  Crimea  and  back,  the  rate  being 
twenty-two  and  one-half  per  cent ;  but  if  she  did  not 
return  before  the  heliacal  rising  of  Arcturus  in  late 
September,  the  rate  was  to  be  thirty  per  cent.  Horace 
also  in  his  well-known  ode  extols  the  contented  man 
who  is  disturbed  not  by  the  "  fierce  violence  of  the 
setting  Arcturus  or  of  the  rising  Kids." 

Cor  Caroli.  —  This  is  a  fine  double  star,  which  on 
modern  maps  is  located  in  the  heart  between  the  two 
hunting  dogs  of  Bootes.  The  story  goes  that  Scar- 
borough, the  court  physician,  on  the  evening  before 
the  return  of  Charles  II  to  London,  beheld  this  star 


84  THE    STARS    IN    SONG    AND    LE(iKND 

shine  out  with  peculiar  luster,  and  thereupon  suggested 
to  the  astronomers  that  it  be  named  in  honor  of  the 
king.  "  The  merry  monarch,"  who,  we  are  told,  "  never 
said  a  foolish  thing,  and  never  did  a  wise  one,"  was 
certainly  hardly  worthy  of  being  commemorated  in  so 
exalted  a  fashion ;  yet  to  his  credit  it  should  be  remem- 
bered that  he  issued  the  decree  for  the  founding  of  the 
royal  observatory  at  Greenwich,  an  institution  whose 
influence  in  the  extension  of  commerce  and  civilization 
has  been  exceedingly  beneficent. 


CORONA  BOREALIS,  THE  NORTHERN  CROWN 

And  still  her  sign  is  seen  in  heaven, 

And,  'midst  the  glittering  symbols  of  the  sky, 

The  starry  crown  of  Ariadne  glides. 

APOLLONIUS  RHODIUS. 

Tins  little  constellation  lies  just  east  of  Bootes,  and 
is  one  of  the  few  which  really  resemble  the  objects  they 
commemorate.  It  is  a  beautiful  circlet  of  stars  forming 
an  admirable  wreath  or  tiara. 

The  legend  of  Ariadne  and  her  crown,  which  has 
always  been  a  popular  one  in  literature,  is  interlinked 
with  that  of  Theseus  and  Bacchus.  At  the  time  when 
the  young  prince  Theseus  was  making  a  name  for  him- 
self by  his  wonderful  exploits,  the  Athenians  were  in 
deep  distress  because  of  the  tribute  they  were  forced  to 
pay  each  year  to  Minos,  king  of  Crete.  This  tribute 
consisted  of  seven  youths  and  seven  maidens ;  and  a 
most  horrible  fate  was  theirs,  for  they  were  imprisoned 
in  a  labyrinth  so  artfully  constructed  that  no  one  could 
possibly  escape,  and  a  hideous  Minotaur,  with  bull's 
body  and  human  head,  soon  caught  and  devoured  them. 

85 


86  THE   STARS    IN   SONG   AND   LEGEND 

Theseus  resolved  to  deliver  his  countrymen  from  this 
calamity,  and  accordingly  offered  himself  as  one  of  the 
victims.  On  arriving  at  Crete  they  were  inspected  by 
King  Minos ;  and  it  happened  fortunately  that  his 
daughter  Ariadne  was  present  and  fell  deeply  in  love 
with  Theseus.  She  furnished  him  with  a  sword  and  a 
clew  of  thread,  by  means  of  which  the  hero  succeeded 
in  slaying  the  monster  and  escaping  from  the  laby- 
rinth. Taking  Ariadne  with  him  he  sailed  for  Athens, 
but  stopped  on  the  way  at  the  island  of  Naxos,  where 
he  basely  deserted  his  newly  made  bride  while  she 
slept. 

But  Venus,  taking  pity  on  her,  promised  that  she 
should  have  an  immortal  lover  instead  of  the  mortal  one 
she  had  lost.  Bacchus,  just  returning  from  his  triumphal 
progress  through  Asia,  landed  on  the  island,  and  finding 
the  fair  Ariadne  in  tears,  consoled  and  wedded  her,  and 
gave  her  this  glorious  crown  as  a  marriage  present.  At 
her  death  it  was  transferred  to  its  place  in  the  sky,  the 
gems  changing  into  glittering  stars. 

According  to  some  of  the  classic  writers  this  group 
represents  the  coiled  hair  of  Ariadne,  or  even  the 
beautiful  maid  herself,  upon  whom  Bacchus  conferred 
immortality.  Spenser  in  the  Faerie  Queene  follows 


CORONA  BOEEALIS,  THE  NORTHERN  CROWN   87 

yet  another  form  of  the  legend,  making  the  crown  a 
gift  of  Theseus : 

Looke !    how  the  crowne  which  Ariadne  wore 
Upon  her  yvory  forehead,  that  same  day 
That  Theseus  her  unto  his  bridale  bore, 

Being  now  placed  in  the  firmament, 

Through  the  bright  heavens  doth  her  beams  display, 

And  is  unto  the  starres  an  ornament, 

Which  round  about  her  move  in  order  excellent. 


HERCULES 

Great  Alcides,  stooping  with  his  toil, 
Rests  on  his  club.  p 

THE  huge  sky-figure  Hercules  lies  next  to  Bootes  on 
the  east,  the  little  stellar  garland  last  described  just 
finding  room  between  the  two  giants.  Although  the 
constellation  is  extremely  ancient,  its  present  name 
seems  to  have  been  unknown  to  the  early  Greek 
astronomers.  Aratus  thus  describes  it : 

Like  a  toiling  man,  revolves 
A  form.      Of  it  can  no  one  clearly  speak, 
Nor  to  what  toil  he  is  attached;    but,  simply, 
Kneeler  they  call  him. 

As  now  usually  represented,  one  foot  rests  on  the 
head  of  Draco ;  in  his  right  hand  he  holds  a  club,  and 
in  his  left  a  branch  around  which  serpents  are  twisting ; 
while  over  his  shoulders  is  thrown  the  hide  of  a  lion. 
The  latter,  of  course,  recalls  his  conquest  of  the 
NemaBan  lion,  already  alluded  to.  The  slaughter  of 
the  Hydra  is  symbolized  by  the  serpent's  head  under 
his  foot ;  while  the  apple  bough  was  no  doubt  intended 

88 


HERCULES  89 

to  represent  the  golden  fruit  of  the  Hesperides,  which 
Hercules  was  obliged  to  wrest  from  the  clutches  of  the 
sleepless  dragon  that  guarded  the  tree.  On  some  maps 
we  find  this  branch  in  the  giant's  left  hand  replaced 
by  Cerberus,  the  triple-headed  guardian  of  the  lower 
regions,  one  of  the  last  of  the  celebrated  twelve  labors 
having  been  to  throttle  this  horrid  creature  and  bring 
him  up  to  the  light  of  day. 

The  Hercules  Cluster.  —  The  great  cluster,  lying  on 
the  west  side  of  the  trapezium  which  marks  the  giant's 
body,  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  objects  in  the 
heavens.  Halley  wrote  of  it  in  1716:  "This  is  but  a 
little  patch,  yet  it  shows  itself  to  the  naked  eye  when 
the  sky  is  serene  and  the  moon  absent."  The  telescope, 
however,  resolves  it  into  a  glorious  company  of  glowing 
suns.  Although  its  diameter  is  less  than  eight  minutes 
of  arc,  and  its  area  therefore  not  over  one-sixteenth 
that  of  the  full  moon,  there  are  crowded  together 
within  its  borders,  according  to  a  conservative  estimate, 
as  many  as  three  or  four  thousand  stars.  Yet  this 
crowding  is  probably  only  apparent.  No  doubt  its 
real  extent  is  so  tremendous  that  there  would  be 
plenty  of  room  for  planetary  systems  to  revolve  undis- 
turbed about  each  member  of  the  group. 


OPHIUCHUS,  THE   SERPENT-BEARER 

Satan  stood 

Unterrified,  and  like  a  comet  burned, 
That  fires  the  length  of  Ophiuchus  huge 
In  th'  arctic  sky,  and  from  its  horrid  hair 

Shakes  pestilence  and  war. 

M  i  I.TON  —  Paradise  Lost. 

LYING  south  of  Hercules  we  come  upon  Ophiuchus, 
the  Serpent-bearer.  Milton,  who  is  usually  correct  in 
his  astronomical  allusions,  blundered  sadly  in  the  lines 
above  quoted  ;  for  Ophiuchus  lies  upon  the  celestial 
equator,  and  can  by  no  stretch  of  poetic  license  be 
considered  an  arctic  constellation.  It  is  supposed  to 
represent  ^Esculapius,  the  son  of  Apollo,  and  proto- 
type of  the  medical  fraternity.  So  skilled  did  he 
become  in  his  profession  that  he  was  reputed  to  be 
able  even  to  raise  the  dead  to  life.  Pluto  took  offense 
at  this,  fearing  lest  his  kingdom  should  become  depop- 
ulated ;  and  at  his  request  Jupiter  launched  a  thunder- 
bolt against  the  bold  physician,  and  so  scattered  his 
precocious  wisdom  that  none  of  his  numerous  descend- 
ants seems  as  yet  to  have  succeeded  in  recovering  it. 

90 


OPHIUCHUS,  THE   SERPENT-BEARER  91 

Apollo,  however,  insisted  that  his  son  be  placed  in  the 
sky,  where  his  healing  arts,  if  they  can  do  no  good, 
can  certainly  do  no  harm.  The  association  of  the 
serpent  with  this  constellation  may  perhaps  indicate 
the  miraculous  powers  which  are  usually  ascribed  in 
the  Orient  to  snake-charmers. 

The  foregoing  is  the  generally  accepted  explanation 
of  this  figure;  but  an  altogether  different  interpre- 
tation is  sometimes  given,  by  which  Ophiuchus  is 
identified  with  Laocoon,  the  priest  of  Neptune,  who, 
during  the  siege  of  Troy,  was  attacked  and  strangled 
by  sea-serpents  for  his  irreverent  treatment  of  the 
wooden  horse. 


LYRA,  THE  LYRE;  DELPHTNUS,  THE  DOLPHIN; 
AQUILA,  THE  EAGLE 

I  saw,  with  its  celestial  keys, 
Its  chords  of  air,  its  frets  of  fire, 
The  Samian's  great  JEolian  lyre, 
Rising  through  all  its  sevenfold  bars, 
From  earth  unto  the  fixe'd  stars. 

LONGFELLOW —  Occultation  of  Orion. 

The  Lyre  of  Orpheus.  —  Few  probably  have  not  noticed 
and  admired  the  brilliant  star  which  culminates  nearly 
overhead  in  our  summer  evenings.  This  is  Vega,  the 
Harp-star  ;  and  indeed,  with  the  help  of  the  smaller 
stars  close  by,  the  rude  resemblance  to  a  lyre  or  harp 
may  easily  be  traced.  According  to  the  common  version 
this  was  the  lyre  of  Orpheus,  and  his  skill  upon  it  was 
such,  that  when  Eurydice  shortly  after  their  marriage 
was  snatched  from  him,  he  succeeded  in  so  charming 
the  guardians  of  the  Stygian  realms  that  they  allowed 
him  to  enter.  Presenting  himself  before  the  deities 
which  presided  over  this  kingdom  of  ghosts,  he  sang 

Such  notes  as,  warbled  to  the  string. 
Drew  iron  tears  down  Pluto's  check. 

And  made  him  grant  what  love  did  seek. — MILTON. 
92 


LYKA,  THE   LYKE,  ETC.  93 

Consent  was  given  that  Eurydice  accompany  her 
husband  back  to  the  upper  world  ;  but  the  condition 
imposed,  that  he  look  not  back  to  see  if  she  were 
following,  proved  too  much  for  his  anxious  love,  and 
he  again  lost  her.  Yet  the  lyre  that  could  bring  tears 
to  the  eyes  of  the  furies  and  melt  the  heart  of  stern 
Pluto,  was  thought  worthy  of  a  place  among  the 
stars. 

Legend  of  Arion  and  the  Dolphin.  —  By  some  of  the 
poets  Lyra  has  been  called  the  harp  of  Arion,  the 
legend  concerning  whom  connects  it  with  the  little 
Dolphin  not  far  off  to  the  southeast.  Arion  was  a 
famous  musician  of  the  court  of  Periander,  king  of 
Corinth.  Returning  from  a  musical  contest  in  Sicily, 
where  he  won  a  valuable  prize,  he  was  seized  by  the 
sailors  who  coveted  his  treasure.  As  they  were  about 
to  throw  him  overboard,  he  requested  permission  to 
play  for  the  last  time  upon  his  harp.  The  dolphins, 
lured  by  the  sweet  strains,  surrounded  the  ship  ;  and 
when  he  slipped  into  the  water,  one  of  them  took  him 
upon  its  back  and  bore  him  safely  to  land. 

Vega.  —  The  resplendent  Vega,  or  Wega,  as  some- 
times written,  derives  its  name  from  the  Arabic,  and 
signifies  "  falling  eagle."  In  Bayer's  Uranometria, 


94  THE   STARS   IN   SONG   AND   LEGEND 

published  early  in  the  seventeenth  century,  the  eagle 
is  actually  represented  standing  behind  the  harp  and 
holding  the  star  in  its  beak.  Vega  ranks  with  Capella 
in  brightness,  being  surpassed  only  by  Sinus  and 
Canopus.  Its  sapphire  hue  justifies  the  appellation 
"  arc-light  of  the  sky." 

The  Double-Double.  —  A  little  to  the  northeast  of 
Vega  is  the  celebrated  quadruple  star.  An  exception- 
ally keen  eye  can  distinguish  its  duplicity,  while  the 
telescope  shows  both  components  to  be  further  divisible. 
Each  pair  seems  to  be  revolving  in  one  or  two  thousand 
years,  and  their  common  drift  through  space  renders  it 
probable  that  the  two  couples  form  one  greater  system, 
whose  period  of  revolution  must  stretch  far  on  towards 
a  million  years. 

Ring  Nebula.  —  Very  interesting  too  is  the  ring 
nebula  of  Lyra,  the  only  object  of  this  character  acces- 
sible to  ordinary  telescopes.  It  consists  of  an  oval 
ring  somewhat  over  a  minute  in  diameter,  "  the  interior 
of  which  is  filled  with  a  dim  nebulous  haze,  like  gauze 
stretched  over  a  hoop."  l 

Aquila.  —  Southeast  of  Lyra  is  the  constellation 
Aquila,  figured  as  a  flying  eagle,  such  being  the 

1  Miss  Clarke's  System  of  the  Stars. 


LYEA,   THE   LYRE,  ETC.  95 

meaning  of  Altair,  its  chief  star.  It  was  known  to  the 
classic  writers  as  the  bird  of  Jove  and  bearer  of  his 
thunder.  In  its  talons  it  holds  the  beautiful  Gany- 
mede, whom  Jupiter,  desiring  for  his  cup-bearer,  sent 
this  eagle  to  seize  and  carry  up  to  heaven.  Occasion- 
ally the  name  Antinous  is  given  to  this  youth,  while 
Ganymede  is  recognized  in  Aquarius,  the  zodiacal  con- 
stellation. The  former  interpretation  is  preferable  as 
being  that  usually  adopted  in  literature.  Tennyson  in 
his  Palace  of  Art  describes  the  picture  representing 
this  legend: 

Or  else  flushed  Ganymede,  his  rosy  thigh 

Half  buried  in  the  eagle's  down, 
Sole  as  a  flying  star  shot  through  the  sky 

Above  the  pillared  town. 


CYGNUS,  THE   SWAN 

Down  the  broad  galactic  river, 

Where  the  star-beams  dance  and  quiver, 

Flies  the  swan  with  grace  transcendent, 

Bearing  on  its  wings  resplendent 

Sacred  cross  of  death  and  glory, 

Emblem  of  'redemption's  story.  ANON 

Cycnus.  —  This  beautiful  constellation,  lying  just  east 
of  Lyra  and  directly  in  the  Milky  Way,  represents 
mythologically  Cycnus 1  (as  properly  written),  the  son 
of  Mars  and  most  intimate  friend  of  Phaethon.  When 
the  latter,  after  his  disastrous  drive  in  the  chariot  of 
the  sun,  was  hurled  into  the  river  Eridanus,  Cycnus 
lingered  about  the  spot,  and  frequently  plunged  beneath 
the  flood,  seeking  some  relic  of  his  lost  companion. 
But  the  gods  finally  grew  angry  and  changed  him  into 
a  swan ;  and  therefore  it  is  that  this  bird  "  ever  sails 
about  in  the  most  pensive  manner,  and  frequently 
thrusts  its  head  into  the  water."  Ovid  thus  describes 
this  metamorphosis  : 

1  The  constellation  is  written  Cygnus,  the  mythological  name  Cycnus. 

90 


CYGNUS,  THE   SWAN  97 

His  voice  was  lessened  as  he  tried  to  speak, 
And  issued  through  a  long  extended  neck : 
His  hair  transforms  to  down  ;    his  fingers  meet 
In  skinny  films,  and  shape  his  oary  feet : 
From  both  his  sides  the  wings  and  feathers  break, 
And  from  his  mouth  proceeds  a  blunted  beak : 
All  Cycnus  now  into  a  swan  was  turned. 

The  Northern  Cross.  —  The  principal  stars  of  Cygnus 
form  the  northern  cross,  so  well  known  to  all  star- 
gazers.  Exquisitely  does  Lowell  picture  its  place 
among  the  constellations  that  preside  over  the  open- 
ing of  the  New  Year : 

Orion  kneeling  in  his  starry  niche, 
The  Lyre  whose  strings  give  music  audible 
To  holy  ears,  and  countless  splendors  more, 
Crowned  by  the  blazing  Cross  high-hung  o'er  all. 

Albireo  and  61  Cygni.  —  The  star  Albireo  in  the  Swan's 
head  is  one  of  the  most  lovely  objects  in  the  sky, 
its  components  being  golden  and  azure,  and  so  well 
separated  that  a  very  small  telescope  will  reveal  them. 
The  faint  pair  lying  on  the  left  wing,  known  as  61 
Cygni,  is  deserving  of  notice,  not  so  much  from  any 
intrinsic  interest,  as  because  "  these  little  suns  were  the 
first  of  all  the  starry  host  to  reveal  to  Bessel  the  secret 


98  THE   STAKS   IN   SONG   AND   LEGEND 

of  their  distance."  1  Light  requires  nearly  ten  years  to 
travel  thence,  so  that  we  do  not  perceive  them  as  they 
now  are,  but  as  they  were  a  decade  ago.  Yet,  as  Webb 
finely  remarks,  "  not  one  in  a  million  of  the  stars  but 
lies  at  a  distance  incalculably  exceeding  that  of  61 
Cygni.  How  vast  must  be  the  dimensions  of  this  great 
universe  !  What  a  temple  for  the  Creator's  glory  !  " 

1  Webb's  Celestial  Objects  for  Common  Telescopes. 


PEGASUS,  THE  WINGED  HORSE 

I  dreamt  that  I  flew  through  the  vaulted  blue, 

Like  Pegasus  of  old, 
That  winge'd  steed  of  heavenly  breed, 

Which  bore  Bellerophon  bold. 

ANON. 

STILL  to  the  eastward  we  come  to  Pegasus  marked  by 
the  well-known  square.  The  northeastern  star  of  this 
square,  however,  lies  in  the  head  of  Andromeda,  and 
may  conveniently  serve  to  locate  that  constellation. 

All  doubtless  are  familiar  with  the  story  of  Pegasus, 
so  charmingly  told  in  Hawthorne's  Wonder  Book. 
Although  he  sprang  from  the  blood  of  the  hateful 
Gorgon,  he  seems  nevertheless  to  have  been  an  amiable 
steed.  Being  presented  by  Minerva  to  the  Muses,  he 
took  up  his  abode  on  Mount  Helicon,  where  with  a 
blow  of  his  hoof  he  opened  up  that  fountain  at  which 
every  poet  must  drink  ere  he  can  soar  on  Pegasean 
wing.  Here  it  was  that  Bellerophon  caught  him  with 
Minerva's  golden  bridle ;  but  after  slaying  the  Chimaera, 
this  hero  grew  too  presumptuous  and  attempted  to  fly 

99 


100          THE   STARS   IN   SONG   AND   LEGEND 

up  to  heaven,  whereupon  Jupiter  sent  a  gadfly  which 
stung  Pegasus  and  caused  him  to  throw  his  rider. 

With  Pegasus  we  have  completed  our  review  of  the 
principal  constellations  north  of  the  zodiac.  Among 
those  that  lie  south  of  this  circle  only  a  few  are  of 
sufficient  interest  to  claim  our  attention.  The  region 
of  the  sky  about  the  south  pole  was,  of  course,  practi- 
cally unknown  to  the  classic  astronomers,  and  most  of 
its  star-figures  are  of  recent  date. 


ORION 

Begirt  with  many  a  blazing  star 
Stood  the  great  giant  Algebar, 
Orion,  hunter  of  the  beast  ! 
His  sword  hung  gleaming  by  his  side, 
And  on  his  arm  the  lion's  hide 
Scattered  across  the  midnight  air 
The  golden  radiance  of  its  hair. 

LONGFELLOW  —  Occultation  of  Orion. 

Brilliancy  of  Orion.  —  The  question  is  often  asked 
whether  the  atmosphere  in  winter  is  not  clearer  than 
in  summer,  since  the  heavens  never  appear  so  brilliant 
as  on  a  crisp  frosty  night.  The  reason  of  this  does  not 
lie  in  the  transparency  of  the  air.  Partly  no  doubt  it 
is  due  to  its  disturbed  condition  which  causes  the  stars 
to  flash  and  twinkle,  but  chiefly  to  the  fact  that  the 
winter  constellations  outrank  in  splendor  those  that 
preside  with  their  milder  radiance  over  the  summer 
months. 

Supreme  in  the  glittering  skies  of  our  northern 
winter  reigns  Orion.  He  is  mentioned  several  times 

in  the  Bible,  the  reference  in  the  ninth  chapter  of  Job 

101 


102 

to  "  the  Seven  stars,  Orion  and  the  Pleiades,  and  the 
chambers  of  the  south,"  being  intended  as  a  compre- 
hensive description  of  the  whole  starry  heavens,  the 
Seven  stars,  or  Great  Bear,  representing  the  arctic  skies, 
Orion  and  the  Pleiades,  the  equatorial  regions,  and  the 
chambers  of  the  south,  that  portion  near  the  south  pole 
which  to  a  northern  observer  is  closed  or  concealed. 

Threatening  Character.  —  Orion's  huge  size  and  threat- 
ening posture,  combined  with  the  stormy  character  of 
the  time  of  year  when  he  rises,  gave  him  an  extremely 
evil  reputation  with  the  classic  writers,  who  hurled 
against  him  all  sorts  of  ugly  invective,  —  rainy,  tem- 
pestuous, destructive  to  sailors  and  altogether  "horrid  " ! 
According  to  Polybius  the  loss  of  the  Roman  fleet  in 
the  first  Punic  war  was  due  "  to  the  obstinacy  of  the 
consuls,  who,  despite  of  the  pilots,  would  sail  between 
the  risings  of  Orion  and  Sirius,  always  a  squally  time." 
Milton  also  in  Paradise  Lost  alludes  to  the  boisterous 
character  of  this  constellation : 

When  with  fierce  winds  Orion  armed 

Hath  vexed  the  Ked  sea  coast,  whose  waves  o'erthrew 

Busiris  and  his  Memphian  chivalry. 

Mythology.  —  Mythologically,  he  was  a  hunter  or 
warrior-giant,  though  the  legends  about  him  are 


ORION  103 

conflicting.  One  account  made  him  the  lover  of  Merope, 
daughter  of  (Enopion,  king  of  Chios.  After  Orion  had 
rendered  the  king  most  valuable  service  by  clearing 
his  realm  of  wild  beasts,  he  demanded  Merope's  hand 
in  marriage,  but  was  refused.  Thereupon  he  attempted 
to  take  her  by  force.  (Enopion,  enraged,  made  him 
drunk,  and  having  put  out  his  eyes,  cast  him  on  the 
seashore.  Following  the  sound  of  the  hammer,  the 
giant  made  his  way  to  Vulcan's  forge  and  besought  his 
help.  Vulcan  gave  him  the  services  of  a  cy clops  to  be 
his  guide,  and  Orion,  placing  him  on  his  shoulders, 
proceeded  to  the  east,  and  there  meeting  the  sun-god, 
was  restored  to  sight,  as  Longfellow  relates : 

But  he 

Reeled  as  of  yore  beside  the  sea, 
When  blinded  by  CEnopion 
He  sought  the  blacksmith  at  his  forge, 
And  climbing  up  the  narrow  gorge, 
Fixed  his  blank  eyes  upon  the  sun. 

According  to  another  story  he  was  the  companion  of 
Diana,  who  fell  in  love  with  him  and  would  have 
married  him,  had  not  her  brother  Apollo  put  a  stop  to 
the  mad  project  by  causing  the  Scorpion  to  sting  him. 
At  the  intercession  of  the  goddess,  however,  he  was 


104          THE   STARS    IN    SONG   AND   LEGEND 

placed  in  the  sky  opposite  to  the  Scorpion,  so  that  he 
might  escape. in  the  west  as  that  loathsome  reptile  lifted 
its  head  above  the  eastern  horizon.  Aratus  refers  to 
this  arrangement  in  his  poem  : 

When  the  Scorpion  comes 

Orion  flies  to  the  utmost  end  of  earth. 

Culminating  on  the  meridian  the  giant  is  upright, 
but  as  he  approaches  the  horizon  his  position  becomes 
more  and  more  inclined.  Tennyson,  with  his  custom- 
ary accuracy,  writes  in  Locksley  Hall  of 

Great  Orion  sloping  slowly  to  the  west. 

In  Maud,  too,  he  thus  beautifully  pictures  the  western 
sky  at  the  opening  of  spring : 

It  fell  at  a  time  of  year 

When  the  face  of  the  night  is  fair  on  the  dewy  downs, 
And  the  shining  daffodil  dies,  and  the  Charioteer 
And  starry  Gemini  hang  like  glorious  crowns 
Over  Orion's  grave  low  down  in  the  west. 

The  Stars  of  Orion.  —  Of  the  brilliants  in  this  constel- 
lation, Betelguese,  meaning  "armpit,"  marks  the  right 
shoulder ;  Rigel,  sometimes  called  Algebar,  the  left 
foot;  while  Bellatrix,  the  female  warrior  or  Amazon 
star,  lies  on  the  left  shoulder.  The  three  stars  in  the 


ORION  105 

belt  constitute  the  golden  yardarm  of  seamen,  and  the 
yardstick  or  ell  of  tradesmen,  besides  being  popularly 
known  as  the  Magi  or  three  wise  men  from  the  Orient, 
and  the  three  Marys.  Tennyson  in  The  Princess 
describes  them  as 

Those  three  stars  of  the  airy  Giant's  zone 
That  glitter  burnished  by  the  frosty  dark. 

The  celestial  equator  now  passes  just  above  the 
northern  one  of  the  three.  In  1807  the  University  of 
Leipsic  resolved  that  the  stars  belonging  to  the  belt 
and  sword  of  Orion  should  in  future  be  called  Napoleon. 
As  Thomas  Hood  two  centuries  earlier  had  told  us  that 
"  this  fellow  was  placed  in  heaven  to  teach  men  not  to 
be  too  confident  in  their  own  strength,"  there  was, 
perhaps,  very  good  ground  for  the  proposed  change  of 
appellation  ;  but  the  new  name  has  never  been  adopted 
by  the  map-makers. 

Great  Nebula  of  Orion.  —  The  telescope  does  not  reveal 
in  all  the  heavens  a  more  wonderful  object  than  the 
great  nebula  lying  just  below  Orion's  belt.  It  is  fre- 
quently called  the  fish-mouth  nebula,  from  the  rude 
resemblance  to  the  head  of  some  marine  monster.  Its 
brilliancy  is  not  uniform,  and  the  glare  of  the  brighter 


106          THE   STARS    IN    SONG   AND   LEGEND 

portions  contrasts  strongly  with  the  darker  regions, 
giving  one  a  "  sensation  of  looking  through  into  the 
luminous  regions  of  illimitable  space."  Sir  John 
Herschel,  viewing  it  through  his  twenty-foot  reflector, 
compares  it  to  a  curdling  liquid,  or  to  the  breaking  up 
of  a  mackerel  sky.  Involved  in  it  is  the  fine  multiple 
star,  known  as  the  trapezium  from  the  configuration  of 
its  four  principal  components. 


Th'  autumnal  star,  whose  brilliant  ray 
Shines  eminent  amid  the  depth  of  night, 
Whom  men  the  dog-star  of  Orion  call. 

LORD  DERBY  —  Translation  of  Homer's  Iliad. 

Sirius,  the  Dog  Star.  —  Homer's  oft-mentioned  Dog 
was  simply  the  star  Sirius,  our  present  constellation 
being  the  creation  of  a  later  date.  In  another  passage 
of  the  Iliad  besides  the  one  above  quoted,  Sirius  is 
alluded  to  as 

The  star  of  autumn  laved  by  ocean's  wave. 

The  time  of  year  intended  by  Homer  was  no  doubt 
the  latter  part  of  July  or  the  first  of  August  when 
Sirius  rose  just  before  the  sun ;  but  we  may  still  very 
properly  call  it  autumn's  star,  for  late  in  the  fall,  when 
the  wind  has  stripped  the  trees  and  the  hoarfrost 
sparkles  on  the  ground,  Sirius,  large  and  brilliant, 
begins  to  loom  in  the  evening  sky. 

No  other  star  visible  in  our  northern  latitudes  re- 
motely rivals  Sirius  in  splendor.  By  the  Arabs  it  was 

107 


108          THE   STARS    IN    SONG   AND   LEGEND 

known  as  Al  Shira,  the  shining  one ;  in  fact,  the  word 
Sirius  signifies  in  the  Greek  "  scorching "  or  u  spark- 
ling." \Ye  can  scarcely  wonder  that  the  ancients 
attributed  the  burning  heat  of  summer  to  the  com- 
mingling of  the  rays  of  this  star  with  those  of  the 
sun,  their  canicular  or  dog  days  being  reckoned  from 
its  heliacal  rising.  It  thus  came  to  pass  that,  although 
so  beautiful,  it  acquired  a  very  evil  reputation,  all  the 
discomforts  and  ills  of  the  torrid  season  being  ascribed 
to  its  influence.  Pope's  translation  of  Homer's  lines, 

Terrific  glory  !  for  his  burning  breath 

Taints  the  red  air  with  fevers,  plagues,  and  death, 

well  expresses  the  popular  estimate  in  classic  days  of 
the  noxious  effects  of  this  glowing  orb. 

The  Nile  Star.  —  In  Egypt,  however,  Sirius  bore  a  very 
different  character.  Some  five  thousand  years  ago, 
before  precession  had  carried  it  so  far  to  the  eastward, 
it  rose  with  the  sun  at  the  time  of  the  summer  solstice, 
and  hence  heralded  the  approach  of  the  Nile  inundation. 
It  was,  therefore,  naturally  held  in  great  reverence  as  the 
Nile  star,  and  had  many  temples  dedicated  to  its  worship. 
Sir  Edwin  Arnold  in  his  Egyptian  Princess  voices  the 
unquestioned  belief  in  the  star's  potent  influence : 


CANIS   MAJOR   AND   CANIS    MINOR  100 

And  ever  when   the   Star  of  Kneph   has  brought  the   summer 

round, 

And  the  Nile  rises  fast  and  full  along  the  thirsty  ground, 
They  bear  her  from  her  rock-hewn  tomb  to  where  the   sun's 

bright  light 
May  linger   on.    the   close-bound   eyes  were   once    so  glad  and 

bright ; 
And    strew    palm    chisters    on    her    breast,    while    gray-haired 

singers  tell 
Of  the  high  Egyptian  lady  who  loved  the  sun  so  well. 

Twinkling  of  Sirius.  —  Not  only  is  Sinus  the  most 
luminous  of  all  the  fixed  stars,  it  also  exhibits  in  the 
most  marked  manner  the  phenomenon  of  scintillation 
or  twinkling.  This  is  due  both  to  its  brightness  and  to 
its  low  altitude  as  seen  from  northern  stations.  While 
it  is  in  reality  an  intensely  white  star,  its  twinkling 
gives  the  impression  of  a  many-colored,  changeful  light, 
as  Tennyson  most  correctly  and  beautifully  describes  it 

in  The  Princess  : 

The  fiery  Sirius  alters  hue, 

And  bickers  into  red  and  emerald. 

The  scientific  explanation  of  twinkling  is  found  in 
the  composite  nature  of  the  ray  of  light  which  proceeds 
from  the  star,  and  which  in  its  passage  through  the 
atmosphere  becomes  more  or  less  broken  up. 


110          THE    STARS   IN   SONG   AND   LEGEND 

The  Little  Dog,  Procyon.  —  Canis  Minor,  the  other 
hound  of  Orion,  was  known  to  the  Greeks  as  Procyon, 
a  term  which  we  now  apply  only  to  the  principal  star. 
It  means  "precursor  of  the  Dog,"  that  is,  of  Sirius. 
While  it  lies  somewhat  to  the  east,  it  is  also  much 
farther  north  than  the  Greater  Dog,  and  hence  with 
us  rises  first.  When,  however,  Sirius  comes  to  the 
western  horizon,  Procyon  is  almost  directly  above  it 
towards  the  zenith. 

The  Companions  of  Sirius  and  Procyon.  —  Both  Sirius 
and  Procyon  have  in  recent  years  been  found  to  be 
double.  The  companion  in  each  case,  though  heavy 
enough  to  sway  the  brighter  star  to  a  quite  perceptible 
degree,  is  a  body  of  very  inferior  luster.  Thus  Sirius 
has  only  twice  the  mass  of  its  companion,  yet  it  gives 
ten  thousand  times  as  much  light.  In  the  Procyon 
system  the  disparity  between  mass  and  luminosity  is 
even  greater ;  while  in  Algol  and  other  stars  of  its 
class  the  satellite  seems  to  be  entirely  dark.  Discov- 
eries like  these  suggest  the  possibility  that  the  telescope 
fails  to  reveal  the  full  extent  of  the  universe,  and  that 
the  conjectures  of  Laplace  and  Bessel  of  the  existence 
of  countless  orbs,  grand  but  invisible,  may  yet  prove 
well  founded. 


ARGO   NAVIS,   THE   SHIP   ARGO 

Then  with  a  whistling  breeze  did  Juno  fill  the  sail, 
And  Argo,  self-impelled,  shot  swift  before  the  gale. 

ELTON —  Translation  of  Onomacritus. 

ONLY  a  portion  of  this  constellation  rises  above  the 
horizon  in  middle  latitudes,  its  principal  star,  Canopus, 
first  becoming  visible  on  the  southern  border  of  the 
United  States.  Yet  it  was  one  of  the  original  forty- 
eight  asterisms,  well  known  in  classic  times. 

The  Legend.  —  This  ship  was  built  for  Jason,  the 
leader  of  the  Argonautic  expedition  which  sailed  from 
Greece  to  Colchis  in  quest  of  the  golden  fleece.  Pallas 
Athene  herself  took  a  hand  in  its  construction  and 
placed  in  the  vessel's  prow  a  timber  from  the  speaking 
oak  of  Dodona,  which  should  serve  to  guide  and  warn 
the  adventurous  chieftains  who  formed  the  crew.  One 
of  the  most  thrilling  adventures  on  the  outward  voyage 
was  the  passing  of  the  Symplegades,  or  clashing  rocks. 
These  guarded  the  entrance  to  the  Euxine  sea  ;  and, 
tossing  back  and  forth,  were  almost  sure  to  crush  any 

boat  that  attempted  to  sail   between  them.     By  the 

111 


112          THE   STARS   IN    SONG   AND   LEGEND 

advice  of  Phineus  the  Argonauts  first  let  go  a  dove, 
which  skimmed  through  in  safety,  losing  only  some  of 
the  feathers  of  her  tail.  Taking  advantage  of  the 
rebound,  they  bent  to  their  oars  and  barely  succeeded 
in  effecting  the  passage  before  the  rocks  again  crashed 
together.  The  stern  of  their  vessel,  indeed,  did  not 
wholly  escape,  but  was  more  or  less  broken  ;  and  so  it 
is  represented  on  the  maps,  though  some  writers  insist 
that  it  is  the  bow  of  the  ship  that  is  wanting.  This, 
however,  is  evidently  a  mistake.  On  Bayer's  map  of 
1639,  we  have  a  very  interesting  delineation  of  ilic 
passage  of  the  swinging  rocks,  the  Argo  being  pictured 
as  just  emerging,  with  her  stern  torn  off  by  their  deadly 
impact.  After  the  fortunate  completion  of  the  voyage 
the  vessel  was  placed  in  the  sky  by  Athene.  If,  as 
many  hold,  this  story  contains  a  substratum  of  truth,  and 
actually  brings  down  to  us  the  account,  highly  colored 
of  course,  of  the  first  important  commercial  expedition 
to  what  was  then  the  far  east,  we  may  well  look  upon 
the  celestial  Argo  with  more  than  ordinary  interest. 

Canopus. — Canopus,  the  lucida  of  this  constellation, 
which  lies  just  below  our  horizon  where  the  prow  of 
the  Argo  cuts  the  water,  is,  after  Sirius,  the  brightest 
star  in  the  heavens.  Canopus  was  the  chief  pilot  of 


ARGO   NAVIS,  THE   SHIP   ARGO  113 

the  fleet  of  Menelaus.  On  the  return  voyage  after  the 
Trojan  war,  they  landed  in  Egypt,  where  Canopus  died 
and  was  buried.  His  name  was  given  to  the  city 
founded  upon  the  site,  and  to  this  star  which  rose  just 
above  the  horizon.  This,  at  least,  is  the  popular  deri- 
vation of  the  name  as  given  by  Plutarch. 

Long,  long  before  this  visit  of  the  Grecian  warriors 
to  the  shores  of  Egypt,  which  thus  resulted  in  naming 
the  star,  the  magnificent  orb  itself  was  known  and 
worshiped  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile.  Lockyer  con- 
cludes that  several  temples  in  Upper  Egypt  were  not 
unlikely  oriented  to  its  setting  more  than  eight  thou- 
sand years  ago  !  That  it  held  an  important  place  in  the 
early  cult  of  that  country  there  can  be  no  doubt.  The 
reference  to  it  in  Moore's  Lalla  Rookh  will  be  recalled 
in  this  connection : 

As  on  some  black  and  troublous  night 

The  Star  of  Egypt,  whose  proud  light 

Never  hath  beamed  on  those  who  rest 

In  the  white  islands  of  the  west, 

Burns  through  the  storm,  with  looks  of  flame 

That  put  heaven's  cloudier  eyes  to  shame. 

It  might  also  well  be  designated  the  Desert  Star, 
for  not  only  was  it  much  used  by  the  wild,  wandering 


114          THE    STARS    IN    SoNti    AND    LEGEND 

tribes  in  tracking  their  way  through  the  pathless 
wastes,  and  in  regulating  their  calendar,  but  it 
naturally  became  an  object  of  worship  among  them. 
Carlyle  in  Heroes  and  Hero-Worship  intimates  how 
this  might  be : 

"  Canopus,  shining  down  over  the  desert  with  its 
blue,  diamond  brightness  (that  wild,  blue,  spirit-like 
brightness,  far  brighter  than  we  ever  witness  here), 
would  pierce  into  the  heart  of  the  wild  Ishmaelitish 
man,  whom  it  was  guiding  through  the  solitary  wastes 
there.  To  his  wild  heart,  with  all  feelings  in  it,  with 
no  speech  for  any  feeling,  it  might  seem  a  little  eye, 
that  Canopus,  glancing  out  on  him  from  the  great,  deep 
eternity,  revealing  the  inner  splendor  to  him." 

The  Argo  Nebula.  -  -  This  grand  object  is  situated 
between  Argo  and  Centaurus,  in  one  of  the  most  bril- 
liant portions  of  the  Milky  Way.  "It  is  not  easy," 
s  iys  Herschel,  "  for  language  to  convey  a  full  impres- 
sion of  the  beauty  and  sublimity  of  the  spectacle  which 
this  nebula  offers  as  it  enters  the  field  of  view  of  the 
telescope,  ushered  in  as  it  is  by  so  glorious  and  innumer- 
able a  procession  of  stars,  to  which  it  forms  a  sort  of 
climax."  Miss  Clerke  strikingly  characterizes  it  as  "  a 
chaotic  sea  of  luminous  billows."  It  is  sometimes 


ARGO   NAVIS,  THE   SHIP   ARGO  115 

called  the  keyhole  nebula  from  a  peculiar  shaped  open- 
ing in  its  brightest  part. 

Among  the  small  stars  that  cluster  on  its  border  is 
one  which,  though  now  insignificant,  has  had  a  most 
surprising  history.  From  the  time  when  Halley  first 
observed  it  in  1677,  until  the  early  part  of  the  last 
century,  its  light  varied  irregularly,  but  never  exceeded 
that  of  a  second  magnitude  star.  In  1827  it  increased 
to  the  first  magnitude,  and  after  fluctuating  for  several 
years,  finally  in  1843  burst  out  with  a  splendor  rival- 
ing that  of  Sirius.  For  nearly  ten  years  it  maintained 
this  high  rank ;  then  its  light  slowly  waned  till  1886, 
when  it  had  passed  beyond  the  range  of  unaided  vision. 
Its  partial  recovery  at  the  present  time  encourages  the 
belief  that  its  strange  career  is  not  yet  ended. 


CRUX,  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS 

Then  did  I  feel  as  one  who,  much  perplext, 
Led  by  strange  legends  and  the  light  of  stars 
Over  long  regions  of  the  midnight  sand 
Beyond  the  red  tract  of  the  pyramids, 
Is  suddenly  drawn  to  look  upon  the  sky, 
From  sense  of  unfamiliar  light,  and  sees, 
Revealed  against  the  constellated  cope, 
The  great  cross  of  the  south. 

OWEN  MEREDITH — Queen  Guenevere. 

Early  References.  —  Although  not  an  ancient  constella- 
tion and  invisible  within  the  boundaries  of  the  United 
States,  yet  the  Southern  Cross  is  so  universally  known 
and  so  remarkable  a  configuration  of  stars  that  it 
deserves  mention.  The  earliest  reference  to  it  seems 
to  have  been  in  Dante's  great  poem,  where  he  speaks  of 
The  rays  of  the  four  consecrated  stars. 

In  the  lines, 

0 !  thou  septentrional  and  widowed  site, 
Because  thou  art  deprived  of  seeing  these ! 

he  seems  to  refer  to  the  interesting  fact  that  in  early 
ages  these  stars  were  visible  from  the  greater  portion 

116 


CEUX,  THE   SOUTHERN   CROSS  117 

of  the  northern  hemisphere,  but  through  the  slow  pre- 
cessional  change  gradually  shifted  southward  and  sunk 
out  of  sight. 

The  voyages  of  discovery  of  the  sixteenth  century 
brought  the  constellation  into  prominence  ;  and  to  the 
Spanish  conquerors  of  Mexico  and  South  America  it 
became  a  token  of  heaven's  approbation  of  their 
endeavors  to  plant  the  faith  in  the  wilds  of  the  New 
World.  Mrs.  Hemans'  lines  in  the  Cross  of  the  South 
beautifully  illustrate  this  sentiment : 

But  to  thee,  as  thy  lode-stars  resplendently  burn 
In  their  clear  depths  of  blue,  with  devotion  I  turn, 
Bright  Cross  of  the  South !  and  beholding  thee  shine, 
Scarce  regret  the  loved  land  of  the  olive  and  vine. 
Thou  recallest  the  ages  when  first  o'er  the  main 
My  fathers  unfolded  the  ensign  of  Spain, 
And  planted  their  faith  in  the  regions  that  see 
Its  imperishing  symbol  ever  blazoned  in  thee. 

Upon  the  first  maps  of  the  southern  hemisphere 
South  America  is  designated  "  Terra  sancte  crucis,"  the 
land  of  the  holy  cross,  a  circumstance  still  commemo- 
rated on  certain  Brazilian  postage  stamps  where  this  con- 
stellation appears.  The  same  suggestive  device  may 
be  seen  on  a  recent  issue  of  New  South  Wales. 


118 

Use  as  a  Timepiece.  —  Like  the  Great  Bear  to  northern 
peoples,  the  Cross  is  the  night-clock  of  those  who  dwell 
within  and  beyond  the  tropics.  Its  stars  are  so  placed 
that  when  culminating  on  the  meridian  it  stands  very 
nearly  upright.  Humboldt  in  alluding  to  this  says  : 
"  How  often  have  we  heard  our  guides  exclaim  in  the 
savannahs  of  Venezuela  and  in  the  desert  extending 
from  Lima  to  Truxillo,  '  Midnight  is  past,  the  Cross 
begins  to  bend  ! ' 

A  story  of  the  tropics,  wherein  this  constellation  fig- 
ures, is  told  for  us  by  Whittier  in  his  Cry  of  a  Lost 
Soul.  The  traveler  floating  at  nightfall  through  the 
gloomy  forests  of  the  Amazon  is  startled  by 

A  cry,  as  of  the  pained  heart  of  the  wood, 
The  long,  despairing  moan  of  solitude. 

The  guide  crosses  himself,  and  in  a  frightened  whisper 
explains  that  it  is  the  cry  of  a  lost  soul,  of  some  infidel 
or  heretic  burning  in  hell.  But  the  traveler 

Lifts  to  the  starry  calm  of  heaven  his  eyes, 
And  lo !  rebuking  all  earth's  ominous  cries, 
The  Cross  of  pardon  lights  the  tropic  skies. 


THE  GALAXY,   OR   MILKY   WAY 

A  broad  and  ample  road,  whose  dust  is  gold 
And  pavement  stars,  as  stars  to  thee  appear, 
Seen  in  the  galaxy,  that  milky  way. 

MILTON  —  Paradise  Lost. 

The  Sky-River.  —  From  time  immemorial  this  circling 
zone  of  light  has  been  likened  to  a  river,  being  known 
anciently  as  Eridanus,  the  river  of  heaven,  into  which 
the  burning  chariot  of  the  sun  was  plunged  after 
Phaethon's  mad  drive  ;  often,  too,  as  the  shining  stream 
or  river  of  light,  recalling  Longfellow's  lines : 

Torrent  of  light  and  river  of  the  air, 

Along  whose  bed  the  glimmering  stars  are  seen, 

Like  gold  and  silver  sands  in  some  ravine 

Where  mountain  streams  have  left  their  channels  bare. 

Among  the  orientals  it  was  sometimes  the  silver 
river,  "  whose  fish  were  frightened  by  the  new  moon, 
which  they  imagined  to  be  a  hook." 

This  semblance  to  a  celestial  stream  is  rendered  even 
more  striking  where  the  Galaxy  divides  into  two 
branches  between  Centaurus  and  Cygnus.  Miss  Clerke 

119 


120          THE   STARS    IN   SONG   AND   LEGEND 

in  her  System  of  the  Stars  says:  "Involuntarily  the 
image  presents  itself  of  a  great  river,  forced  by  an 
encounter  with  a  powerful  obstacle  to  throw  its  waters 
into  a  double  channel,  lower  down  merged  again  into 
one.  The  intervening  long  strip  of  islanded  rock  and 
gravel  might  stand  for  the  great  rift  between  the 
branches  of  the  sidereal  stratum,  which,  although  to 
the  eye,  owing  to  the  effect  of  contrast,  darker  th.tn 
the  general  sky,  is  in  reality  nowhere  quite  free  from 
nebulous  glimmerings.  It  is  encroached  upon  In- 
fringes, effusions,  and  filaments,  spanned  by  bridges  of 
light,  and  here  and  there  half  filled  up  by  long,  narrow, 
disconnected  masses  or  pools  of  nebulae,  lying  parallel 
to  the  general  flow  of  the  stream." 

The  Path  of  Souls.  —  Again  the  Galaxy  is  a  road  or 
pathway,  our  Milky  Way  being  in  fact  but  a  transla- 
tion of  the  classic  Via  lactea.  Almost  universally  this 
has  been  the  path  by  which  departing  souls  reach  the 
realms  of  the  blessed,  as  Milton  has  it, 

The  way  to  God's  eternal  house. 

So  in  the  medieval  ages  it  was  popularly  called  "the 
way  of  Rome,"  because  the  Roman  pontiffs  controlled 
and  guarded  the  only  avenue  of  approach  to  the  celestial 


THE   GALAXY,    OR   MILKY   WAY  121 

city.  The  Norsemen  knew  it  as  the  path  to  Valhalla, 
up  which  went  the  souls  of  heroes  who  fell  in  battle. 
The  belief  of  our  North  American  Indians  is  set  forth 
in  Longfellow's  Hiawatha,  where 

Many  things  Nokomis  taught  him 
Of  the  stars  that  shine  in  heaven. 

Showed  the  broad  white  road  in  heaven, 
Pathway  of  the  ghosts,  the  shadows, 
Running  straight  across  the  heavens, 
Crowded  with  the  ghosts,  the  shadows, 
To  the  Kingdom  of  Ponemah, 
To  the  land  of  the  hereafter ; 

or  in  the  beautiful  Indian  Fancy  of  William  Hamilton 
Hayne : 

Pure  leagues  of  stars  from  garish  light  withdrawn 
Behind  celestial  lace-work  pale  as  foam, — 

I  think  between  the  midnight  and  the  dawn 

Souls  pass  through  you  to  their  mysterious  home. 

The  Winter  Street.  —  With  the  Swedish  peasantry  it 
is  the  "  Winter  Street,"  probably  because,  while  in 
the  spring  and  summer  evenings  its  pale  milky  light 
mingles  with  the  haze  of  the  horizon,  in  winter  it 
arches  magnificently  across  the  zenith.  Miss  Edith 


122          THE   STARS   IN   SONG   AND   LEGEND 

Matilda    Thomas    in    her    short   poem    of    this    name 
thus  describes  it : 

Silent  with  star-dust,  yonder  it  lies  — 

The  Winter  Street,  so  fair  and  so  white ; 

Winding  along  through  the  boundless  skies, 
Down  heavenly  vale,  up  heavenly  height. 

And  who  are  they,  all  unheard  and  unseen  — 

0,  who  are  they,  whose  blessed  feet 
Pass  over  that  highway  smooth  and  sheen  ? 

What  pilgrims  travel  the  Winter  Street  ? 

Are  they  not  those  whom  here  we  miss 

In  the  ways  and  the  days  that  are  vacant  below '.' 

As  the  dust  of  that  street  their  footfalls  kiss, 
Does  it  not  brighter  and  brighter  grow  ? 

Jacob's  Road.  —  In  Germany  a  popular  title  has  been 
Jakobs  Strasse,  Jacob's  Road,  a  simile  borrowed  from 
the  ladder  of  his  dream,  on  which  the  angels  of  God 
ascend  arid  descend.  The  same  idea  occurs  elsewhere, 
for  Longfellow  tells  us, 

The  Spaniard  sees  in  thee  the  pathway  where 
His  patron  saint  descended  in  the  sheen 
Of  his  celestial  armor,  on  serene 
And  quiet  nights  when  all  the  heavens  were  fair. 


THE   GALAXY,   OR   MILKY   WAY  123 

Very  beautiful,  noble  even,  are  these  fancies,  which 
find  in  this  luminous  track  the  highway  of  spirits, 
growing,  like  the  path  of  the  just,  ever  brighter  as  it 
rises  above  the  mists  and  fogs  of  this  world,  up  into 
the  glorious  expanses  of  the  ether,  till  it  is  lost  in  the 
boundlessness  of  the  celestial  realms.  But  grander 
still,  shall  we  not  say  ?  is  the  reality,  the  true  concep- 
tion of  this  mighty  circle  of  light,  which  science  tells  us 
is  composed  of  worlds  heaped  on  worlds,  suns  towering 
beyond  suns,  in  a  profusion  that  startles  the  imagina- 
tion and  awes  the  soul.  Something  of  this  did  Long- 
fellow see  in  the  Galaxy  : 

The  white  drift  of  worlds  o'er  chasms  of  sable, 
The  star-dust  that  is  whirled  aloft  and  flies 
From  the  invisible  chariot  wheels  of  God. 


INDEX 


jEsculapius,  90 

Albireo,  97 

Alcides,  88 

Alcor,  65 

Alcyone,  35-37 

Aldebaran,  32 

Algebar,  104 

Algol,  76 

Allen,  E.  H.,  54,  63 

Almach,  76 

Altair,  95 

Amalthea,  78 

Amazon  star,  104 

Andromeda,  72,  74,  75 

Antares,  53 

Antinous,  95 

Antiquity  of  constellations,  23 

Aquarius,  57 

Aquila,  94 

Aratus,  28,  31,  34,  44,  48,  55,  88, 

Areas,  61 

Arcturus,  62,  82,  83 

Arethusa,  47 

Argonauts,  39,  111,  112 

Argo  Navis,  111 

Ariadne,  85,  86 

Aries,  27 

Arion,  93 

Arnold,  Sir  Edwin,  108 


104 


Arthur's  Wain,  64 
Astarte,  13 
Astrsea,  48 
Astrology,  24 
Athene,  111,  112 
Atlantides,  31 
Atlas,  31,  74 
Auriga,  77 
Autumn's  star,  107 

Baal  worship,  7,  8 

Bacchus,  86 

Bellatrix,  104 

Bellerophon,  99 

Beltane,  8 

Berenice's  Hair,  80 

Betelguese,  104 

Bootes,  82 

Browning,  Elizabeth  B.,  74 

Browning,  Robert,  18,  19 

Bryant,  W.  C.,  62,  70,  71,  80 

Buddha,  14 

Bull,  30 

Callimachus,  78 
Callisto,  61 
Camoens,  62 
Cancer,  43 
Canis  Major,  107 


125 


126 


THE   STA11S   IN    SONG   AND   LEGEND 


Canis  Minor,  110 

Canopus,  112-114 

Capella,  77,  78 

Capricornus,  55 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  114 

Cassiopeia,  72 

Castor,  39,  40 

Centaurs,  64 

Cepheus,  72 

Cerberus,  89 

Ceres,  47 

Ceyx,  36 

Chambers  of  the  south,  102 

Charioteer,  77 

Charles'  Wain,  64 

Claws  of  Scorpio,  25,  50 

Clerke,  Agnes  M.,  33,  34,  94,  114, 

120 

Cluster  in  Hercules,  89 
Colchis,  7,  29 
Coma  Berenices,  80 
Congreve,  William,  43 
Conon,  80 

Constellations,  Origin  of,  23,  24 
Cor  Caroli,  83 
Cor  Leonis,  46 
Cornucopia,  78 
Corona  Borealis,  85 
Cowley,  Abraham,  39 
Crab,  43 
Crux,  116 
Cycnus,  96 
Cygnus,  96 
Cynosure,  67 

Dante,  57,  116 
Delphinus,  93 
Demosthenes,  83 


Denebola,  46 
De  Rheita,  81 
Desert  star,  113,  114 
Diana,  13,  16,  103 
Dog  star,  108 
Dolphin,  93 
Draco,  77,  88 
Druids,  8,  9,  17 
Dry den,  John,  70 

Eagle,  94 

Egyptian  temples,  4 
Egypt,  Star  of,  113 
Electra,  35 
Emerson,  R.  W.,  83 
Endymion,  16 
Erechtheus,  77 
Eridanus,  53,  57,  96,  119 
Euripides,  45 
Europa,  30 
Eurydice,  92,  93 
Evening  Star,  59 

Fishes,  58 

Fish-mouth  nebula,  105 

Galaxy,  119 

Galileo,  18 

Ganymede,  96 

Gemini,  39 

Goat,  56 

Golden  age,  48 

Golden  fleece,  29,  111 

Gorgon,  74 

Great  Bear.  61 

Great  Dipper.  C>~> 

Great  Dog,  107 

Greenwich  Observatory,  84 


INDEX 


127 


Hsedi,  77 

Hafiz,  83 

Halcyon,  36 

Halcyone,  36 

Halley,  Edmund,  89,  115 

Hamal,  29 

Hare,  14 

Hawthorne,  Nathaniel,  99 

Hayne,  W.  H.,  121 

Heine,  22 

Helen's  lights,  40 

Helicon,  Mount,  99 

Helios,  7 

Helle,  29 

Hellespont,  29 

Hemans,  Felicia,  9,  34,  117 

Hercules,  43,  45,  88 

Herdsman,  82 

Herschel,  Sir  John,  49,  53,  81,  106, 

114 

Hesperides,  74,  89 
Hesperus,  59 
Hevelius,  Johannes,  82 
Homer,  13,  39,  61,  63,  107,  108 
Hood,  Thomas,  105 
Horace,  40,  83 
Horus,  Myth  of,  3,  4 
Humboldt,  Baron  von,  118 
Hyades,  31,  32 
Hydra,  43 
Hyperboreans,  68 

Incas,  10,  17 
Indra,  14 
Isaiah,  24,  68,  69 

Jack  and  Jill,  15 
Jacob's  Road,  122 


Jason,  111 
Job,  33,  62,  101 
Jonsou,  Ben,  16 
Josephus,  25 
Juno,  43,  61,  62 
Jupiter,  78 

Kids,  77,  78 
Kingfisher,  36 
Kingsley,  Charles,  75 
Kneph,  Star  of,  109 

Lady  in  the  Moon,  15,  16 

Lampman,  Archibald,  37 

Lance-bearer,  83 

Landseer,  John,  28 

Laocoon,  91 

Ledaean  lights,  39 

Leo,  45 

Libra,  50 

Lion,  45 

Little  Bear,  67 

Little  Dog,  110 

Little  Wain,  68 

Lockyer,  Sir  J.  Norman,  113 

Lode-star,  71 

Loki,  10 

Longfellow,  H.  W.,  17,  27,  40,  47, 

50,  52,  54,  57,  93,  101,  103,  119, 

121,  122,  123 
Lowell,  J.  R.,  61,  97 
Lyra,  93 

Macaulay,  Thomas  B.,  40 

Manger,  44 

Manilius,  57 

Man  in  the  Moon,  14,  15 

Medusa,  74,  76 


L28 


Till:    STARS    IX    SONC     AND    LKclKND 


Meredith,  Owen,  39,  116 

Merope,  35,  38,  103 

Milk  dipper,  54 

Milky  Way,  119 

Miltun.  John,  18,  33,  36,  51,  55,  G7, 

7-_'.  (.H),  92,  102,  119,  120 
Minerva,  99 
Minos,  85 
Minotaur,  85 
Mi/.ar,  65 
Moon,  13 

Moon  superstitions,  19,  20 
Moon  worship,  13 
Moore,  Thomas,  68,  71,  113 
Morris,  Lewis,  16 
Mountain  of  the  north,  68 
Miiller,  Max,  2 

Nebulae  in  Virgo,  49 

Nebula  in  Andromeda,  76 

Nebula  in  Argo,  114 

Nebula  in  Orion,  105 

Nebula  in  Pleiades,  37,  38 

Nebula  in  Scorpio,  53 

New  star  in  Cassiopeia,  73 

New  star  in  Scorpio,  53 

Nile  inundation,  6,  45 

Nile  star,  108 

North    American    Indians,    17,    63, 

121 

Northern  Cross,  97 
Northern  Crown,  85 
North  Star,  69 

CKnopion,  103 
Onomacritus,  111 
Ophiuchus,  90 
Orientation  of  cathedrals,  1 1 


Orientation  of  temples,  4-C 

Orion,  101 

Orpheus,  o!>.  '.Hi 

<  >siris.  3,  4 

Ossian,  1 

Ovid,  L'T,  90 

Tan,  :>o 

Paul,  Apostle,  28,  40 

Pegasus,  !>'.» 

Perseus,  74,  75 

Peru,  10 

Phaethon.  :>•_'.  '.Hi 

Phoebus  Apollo,  7,  52 

Phoenicians,  7,  67 

Phosphorus,  59 

Phrixus,  29 

Pisces,  58 

Pleiad,  lost,  34,  35 

Pleiades,  32-34 

Plow,  63 

Plow-oxen,  63 

Pluto,  47,  90,  93 

Poe,  K.  A..  09 

Pole-star.  09-71 

Pollux,  :!<>,  40 

Polybius,  102 

Pope,  Alexander,  88,  108 

Prsesepe,  44 

Procyon,  110 

Proserpine,  47 

Pyramids,  4 

Quadruple  star  in  Lyra.  !>l 
Queen  of  Heaven,  13 

Hani,  27 
Kegulus.   I". 


INDEX 


129 


Rhodius,  85 
Rigel,  104 
King  nebula,  94 
Rossetti,  Christina,  G9 

Sagittarius,  54 

Saint  Elmo's  lights,  40 

Sayce,  A.  H.,  68 

Scales,  50 

Scandinavian  sun  myths,  9,  10 

Schiller,  ,T.  C.  F.  von,  25,  82 

Scorpio,  52,  103,  104 

Sea  Goat,  55 

Seaman's  star,  70 

Selene",  13,  15 

Septentriones,  63 

Serpent-bearer,  90 

Serviss,  G.  P.,  80 

Shakespeare,  04,  70 

Shelley,  Percy  B.,  39 

Sigourney,  Lydia,  32 

Sirius,  107-109 

Southern  Cross,  11(5 

Spenser,  Edmund,  27,  32,  64,  86 

Sphinx,  45 

Spica,  48 

Star  of  Bethlehem,  73 

Star  of  Egypt,  113 

Stars,  Number  of,  22,  23 

Stonehenge,  8,  9 

Sun,  1 

Sun  worship  in  Egypt,  3,  4 

Sun  worship  in  Greece,  6,  7 

Sun  worship  in  India,  2 

Sun  worship  in  Peru,  10,  11 

Swan,  96 


Swinburne,  A.  C.,  77 
Syinplegades,  111 

Taurus,  30 

Taylor,  Bayard,  32 

Taylor,  B.  F.,  65 

Tennyson,  Alfred,  13,  30,  32,  58,  59, 

65,  95,  104,  105,  109 
Theseus,  85,  86 
Thomas,  Edith  M.,  122 
Tramontana,  68,  69 
Twinkling,  109 
Typhon,  3,  4,  56 

Ursa  Major,  61 
Ursa  Minor,  67 

Valhalla,  10,  121 
Variable  star  in  Argo,  115 
Vedas,  2,  34 
Vega,  92-94 
Venus,  58,  59,  86 
Veronica,  81 
Vindemiatrix,  48 
Virgil,  30,  50 
Virgo,  47 
Vulcan,  103 

Water-bearer,  57 
Weather  prognostics,  44 
Whittier,  J.  G.,  118 
Winter  constellations,  101 
Winter  Street,  121 

Young,  Charles  D.,  1 
Zodiac,  25,  26 


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